Japanification? China Should Be So Lucky
The economy is having a rough time. But comparisons with Japan are unfair — to Japan.
Same but different.
Photographer: btgbtg/iStockphoto via Getty Images
The world is finally awakening to challenges that have been building in China for years. That means it’s open season among the commentariat on the country and its economy. Languishing growth has produced a slew of unflattering comparisons both with the US, and with the China that was — the juggernaut that attracted as much envy as unease.
But as China slips into deflation, one word is popping up more and more to describe the gloomy atmospherics: Japanification. The surface similarities with Japan of the early 1990s are there: a rickety real estate sector, a fast-aging population, and trade tensions with the US in a scrap for global dominance.