The real problem with what's happening to the Yen, is that it hasn't even begun to scratch the surface of alleviating their problem: debt.
It's that debt that leaves their budget a disaster, requiring so much of it just for the interest on the debt. It's that debt that has robbed Japan of growth for so many years.
For preliminary 2015 figures on GDP per capita, they've crashed down to #24 thanks to the erosion of the value of the Yen - to $32,000 or so. That puts them below Israel and New Zealand, countries they towered over for decades on that metric. By comparison South Korea is at $27k and Spain is at $26k; at the present rate of Yen destruction (which is to say if they continue with their failed currency debasement attempt to inflate away their debt) it won't be more than a couple of years before Japan falls below that line. Next up after that is Taiwan at $22,000 per capita - another lost decade filled with debacles like Abenomics will get them down to that level. There's only so much you can erode before it begins to unravel the standard of living Japan has enjoyed for decades.
At one time their economy was a force to be reckoned with. Now it's a mere 22% the size of the US economy and shrinking. They had caught up to the US in GDP per capita in 1987. Soon the US is going to be at double their GDP per capita number. How will Japan be able to afford the care of their elderly, their debt service, the cost of infrastructure, the capital needed to invest into the future (R&D, science, et al.)? At this rate, they won't.
How is public debt the problem? If something, Japan case show that debt in your own money is not the problem.
Japan economy suffers from low spending and specially low investment. That could be because the private sector is deleveraging of because the private sector just don't see profits investing in japan. Are not the main Japanese companies opening factories in China and other countries?
It's that debt that leaves their budget a disaster, requiring so much of it just for the interest on the debt. It's that debt that has robbed Japan of growth for so many years.
For preliminary 2015 figures on GDP per capita, they've crashed down to #24 thanks to the erosion of the value of the Yen - to $32,000 or so. That puts them below Israel and New Zealand, countries they towered over for decades on that metric. By comparison South Korea is at $27k and Spain is at $26k; at the present rate of Yen destruction (which is to say if they continue with their failed currency debasement attempt to inflate away their debt) it won't be more than a couple of years before Japan falls below that line. Next up after that is Taiwan at $22,000 per capita - another lost decade filled with debacles like Abenomics will get them down to that level. There's only so much you can erode before it begins to unravel the standard of living Japan has enjoyed for decades.
At one time their economy was a force to be reckoned with. Now it's a mere 22% the size of the US economy and shrinking. They had caught up to the US in GDP per capita in 1987. Soon the US is going to be at double their GDP per capita number. How will Japan be able to afford the care of their elderly, their debt service, the cost of infrastructure, the capital needed to invest into the future (R&D, science, et al.)? At this rate, they won't.