... when Japan in the middle of the lost decade, slammed its cash rate down to 0.1% ... that of course pushed the Yen from an importer's to an exporter's exchange rate, and as a side-effect destroyed the presumption behind the easy money games in Southeast Asia that the Yen would always be strong against the US$, so it would always be possible to borrow short in US$ and roll it over and pay back long using Yen earnings, combining a foreign exchange gain with the lower cost of short term finance.

How deliberate that timing was, or whether it just took the Japanese that long to decide upon such a dramatic monetary policy ... like I said, I don't understand Japanese political economy to really have any idea.

A little while after the outsourcing wave was over, the Japanese economy showed a return of stronger economic growth ... it was the shift from one level to another level so dramatically that led to the domestic investment drought in Japan ... at least, compared to prior levels of investment.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.