Factors restricting Japan's economic development

As globalization further deepens, Japan has little potential to rely on manufacturing to further stimulate economic growth. It should focus more on developing the financial services industry and even the entire tertiary industry. At present, Japan's financial services industry accounts for about 23% of GDP, and the United States accounts for 37%. Japan's tertiary industry accounts for about 70% of GDP, and the United States accounts for about 80%. This is a good room for growth. Japan's domestic debt is twice the annual national economic output, which has become a major problem plaguing Japan's financial economy. Recently, Japan has raised its consumption tax, raising the consumption tax for domestic residents from 5% to 8%. This will inevitably hinder the country's consumption and its growth. The sluggish consumption of residents will greatly hinder the improvement of the country's domestic financial situation. , and economic development. Due to the stagnation of the global economy in Japan in recent years, the Japanese economy can only maintain low-speed growth, with the growth rate below 2.5%. The year-on-year growth rate in December 2013 further shrank to 1.2%. The Japanese economy will continue to grow at a low speed in the next few years. pattern. But the problem is that the Japanese financial system has always been dominated by banks, not the capital market. Since the 1990s, it has been difficult for Japan's economy to find a stronger growth point, which itself shows that the problems of Japan's financial system, which has traditionally been dominated by banks, have become increasingly prominent. In order to further increase the efficiency of Japanese enterprises and the space for the financial services industry, the role of the capital market should become stronger and stronger. Risk capital in Japan does not exist widely, precisely because Japan does not really implement bankruptcy laws in accordance with the principles of the capital market, but in accordance with Confucian ideas - don't be so serious, why let such a good company go bankrupt, etc., which not only hinders The development of the entire financial services industry has also inhibited Japan's entrepreneurial spirit. The result is that financial bad debts have snowballed. You must know that the reason why the American entrepreneurship and innovation culture is so strong is absolutely inseparable from its very cold capital market and equity market. Japan's economic transformation itself has many challenges. Japan lacks an incentive mechanism centered on an active equity market, and its business model innovation potential will be relatively small. In recent years, Japan's reforms have been of great magnitude, such as substantially transforming the financial system and breaking the monopoly of chaebols. However, Japan's conservative forces are still very strong, which is likely to cause Japan's entire reform and transformation to stagnate. Can Japan follow the same path as the United States? But that's not possible in the foreseeable future. In addition to its economic advantages, the United States also has political and military advantages and global influence, which Japan cannot have. Japan does not have a high-end manufacturing industry like Boeing in the United States, a superior information industry like Microsoft in the United States, a financial services industry like Citibank in the United States, or an investment bank like Goldman Sachs in the United States. From a cultural perspective, the United States is A country of immigrants, open and full of innovation and adventure motivation, while Japan may be a relatively conservative country in the Eastern world. The richer it becomes, the more conservative it becomes. In addition, it is an island country, itself a single nation, with poor resources and a small market. A space to become a political power and a world economic superpower. In order to maintain huge fiscal expenditures, Japan has issued large amounts of government bonds year after year to maintain the operation of government agencies and social welfare expenditures. The Japanese government's debt ratio has exceeded 200% of national income that year. It can be described as borrowing money to survive. The ruling class has made a significant rightward turn in recent years, clamoring to amend the constitution, vigorously strengthen armaments, and frequently worship the ghosts of war criminals. This has aroused great dissatisfaction and opposition from some people. Also, as a post-industrial country, Japan’s low birthrate, aging population and restrictive immigration policies may restrict its development. People over 65 years old account for more than 20% of the total population. Without large-scale immigration from neighboring countries or Southeast Asia to realize the flow of talents, it will be difficult for Japan to produce an innovation mechanism. Japan has many institutional restrictions on the flow of international talents. For example, foreigners cannot work as government civil servants or high school teachers in Japan. The Japanese national character is hypocritical, conservative, stubborn, and stick to the past. They tend to stubbornly stick to the dead principles and lack the awareness to pioneer and innovate. At the ideological level, it is almost always something in the "old man's mind". In addition, Japan's economic and industrial competitive advantages are lackluster. Currently, it has almost no technological advantages compared with China. Its industrial structure is very similar to that of South Korea. The small land area limits its development space. Japan's neighboring countries, China and South Korea, have intensified their political entanglements with Japan and formed countermeasures against Japan's economic development. The main raw materials rely on imports. Once the international prices of coal, oil, scrap iron, and iron ore fluctuate, it will inevitably have an impact on the Japanese economy. Japan's population is aging, the number of labor force continues to decline, and many jobs are vacant, which will inevitably greatly reduce the vitality of the manufacturing industry in Japan's economic development.