Category Archives: Society

Restructuring a Debt-Dependent Economy: What Is the Impact of Quantitative Easing Policies?


The European Central Bank has embarked on a quantitative easing policy. We will decipher it from the front page of the morning paper, the third page of the comprehensive section, the front page of the evening paper, and the 25th page of the market’s comprehensive coverage.

Until the financial collapse, the world economy relied on debt and loans. Loans collapsed, and the support for the economy disappeared. In other words, the available funds dropped significantly. I’ve written a bit about this in another blog post.

Let’s take a look at this quantitative easing. First, subprime has disappeared, and available funds are gone. In simple terms, if you used to have 1 million yen, but now it has dropped to 500,000 yen because loans are no longer available, you can’t continue to live the way you used to. You need 1 million yen to maintain the same lifestyle, but now that loans are no longer available, it’s impossible. This also applies to general product purchases, as they used to be funded by credit card loans and other types of loans, especially in the United States (as mentioned in a previous FX攻略.com post).

As a result, the amount of currency in circulation in the market has also decreased. It’s impossible to maintain the same level of trading volume as before. Hence, quantitative easing. So, will the economy really recover after quantitative easing? That’s the question.

The European Central Bank has lowered its policy interest rate and extended the lending period for financial institutions. The consequences fall on the central bank. The Bank of England has also implemented quantitative easing. The European Central Bank has aligned its policy interest rate with that of Japan and the United States.

How long will this policy continue? According to an article on the front page of the evening paper, the top 10 companies have a shortfall of 7.4 trillion yen. If the funds that were previously covered by loans are now disbursed in cash, will things return to normal?

I’m concerned that even if we continue to increase the circulating currency, it may create distortions in the economy. What used to be loans is now disbursed as cash. While the value may not change, liquidity will increase significantly. Will Japan and the United States move in the same direction?

What I’m concerned about is national character. American companies and Japanese companies, even if they have the same amount of money, may use it differently. This will create a different balance point than before, and looking back to 2007, things might seem a bit strange. So there will likely be ongoing debates for a while.

Then the question is, “Will it really recover?” It’s hard to say, but there were fairly pessimistic things written in the special edition of Nikkan Gendai GW. It’s something that ordinary citizens can’t do anything about.

It’s best to endure without moving too much until America recovers. Why did the European Central Bank extend the lending period all of a sudden? In other words, why couldn’t they see it coming earlier?

During Golden Week, there seemed to be some positive movements, but I have doubts about whether quantitative easing has any real meaning in the midst of high unemployment. Oh, by the way, did you know that it was actually calculated that it would be more economically effective to make expressway tolls free? It was written in a magazine.


無電柱化計画 初めて聞いたぜ “防災ニューディール”


日経朝刊19面の経済教室で、「無電柱化」ってのを見つけました。はて なんですかい という話なのですが、それもそのはず、日本では、計画あれど進行なしですから。

記事によると、ロンドンパリベルリンではほぼ100%進んでいるとのこと。要するに欧州の首都だ。

無電柱化してなにがうれしいかってのが気になるんだが、電柱の倒壊による火災及び停電の防止はだれでもわかるよな? でもそれだけじゃなくて、渋滞が緩和され、その上高電圧化ができるそうなんだ。するってーと、将来 電気自動車を充電するのにもつかえるということだ。

確かに、兵庫県に引っ越してくる前には 俺も電柱倒壊による停電に遭ったぜ。断層でもできれば地中に埋めても停電だが、あのときは台風だったからな。地中に埋めてあれば防げたはずだ。

こういったライフラインの再整備を“防災ニューディール”という言葉で表現してあるんだが、これはほかにも共同溝の利用や、光ファイバー整備耐震性強化なんかがある。

ただどうしてもわからねーのが、なんでロンドンパリベルリン100%進んでいて、東京12%しかできていないのかってことだ。プランがあるってことは東京都建設局のページにかいてあったけどよぉ。俺の住んでる兵庫県にもプランがあるってことだけは公表されているんだ。(記事作成時点では兵庫県に住んでいた。)

どうも日本というのはやることが遅いというか、効率が悪い。道路計画だってそうだ。いまさら意味のない道路をつくってもなぁ。

昨日 小耳にはさんだんだけどよぉ、アメリカヨーロッパでは、腕時計携帯電話になってるっていうじゃねぇか。なにやってんだよ日本。


WHO creates international standards for the positions of acupuncture points.


Yesterday, it was reported in the Yomiuri Shimbun (page 2) that there is a movement to unify the positions of acupuncture points, as they vary and sometimes deviate in countries such as Japan and China. The reason for this initiative is to eliminate confusion caused by having different positions under the same name.

According to the article, this movement towards standardization already existed 16 years ago.

WHO to Set World Standards for Acupuncture Point Locations

The positions of 361 acupuncture points used in acupuncture and moxibustion will be standardized internationally. The World Health Organization (WHO) will decide on the unified criteria for these acupuncture points at an international conference to be held in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture, starting from the 31st.

Currently, the positions of acupuncture points differ from country to country, and while each position is considered effective, it has been a source of confusion when discussing the efficacy of acupuncture internationally.

(Omitted)

In 1989, WHO unified the names of the 361 acupuncture points and assigned international numbers to them. Furthermore, from 2003, a consultative conference composed of researchers from Japan, China, and Korea has been established to consider the standardization of these positions.

October 27, 2006, 3:04 a.m. Yomiuri Shimbun

If you search for “therapeutic” and similar terms on the WHO’s page (http://www.who.or.jp/index.html) (removed), you can find PDFs related to acupuncture points. ()