I can go with the general theme of what you're saying although I'd dispute some aspects of it. High suicide rates poverty etc. Japan didn't collapse in a heap but it didn't really recover either when it should have. It's biggest mistake in the eighties was not allowing companies to fail and carrying the debt into the future in the belief growth and inflation would vaporise that debt over time. Reasonable assumptions at the time but a policy that should have been corrected as it became obvious it wasn't working. Instead Japanese stoicism and cultural characteristics saw them persist in the belief that more time would resolve these issues.

In the meantime quality of life and lifestyle could be maintained, certainly on the surface, by a steady diet of debt. Japan reminds me of the gambler who funds his bets with debt and keeps doubling down trying to work the odds of just one win will correct the situation.

I can go with most of Abe's 3 arrow strategy especially competitive reform. The problem he faces is that if one arrow misses the others are likely to miss as well and he's out the door. That means failure would likely see a reversion back to the days of old in terms of governance. Would the corporate power brokers be able to neutralise him politically and strengthen their already tight hold on their respective commercial markets?

If global markets where in better shape I would give him half a chance of making a difference but in reality he has too many forces aligned against him. China, S Korea, Taiwan and the EU aren't going to sit by idly and watch their market share dwindle in the face of competitive currency manipulation. In a healthier global economic situation they might have given Japan some wiggle room to maneuver but given the animosity going around I tend to think if anything they'll do their best to complicate any attempt at recovery.

The biggest concern at the moment is not decimating their banking system. Banks hold huge amounts of JGB's which when they hit 1% as they have compromise bank Tier 1 ratios and puts them in the technically insolvent category. The BOJ has had to support the bond market on all but 2 days since launching QE. Volatility is off the clock and spooking investors. While the BOJ wanted a flow out of bonds and into other investment areas it doesn't want that flow to turn into a flood it can't control. 

One of the weak points in its strategy is it can't control both its currency and JGBs at the same time. It's one or the other. BOJ is trying to back out of more purchases of bonds but the market is spooked and the BOJ has to support the bond price by buying when it doesn't want to. If it doesn't support the bond price rates go up jeopardising banks solvency positions. If it's forced in to supporting the bond price it risks pushing the currency lower and possibly loosing control of it. 

Another problem is that this volatility is creating problems in other markets. I can't see this being tolerated for too much longer. Everything is pointing to something breaking soon. Instability is increasing and if something snaps nobody really knows how it will play out.

One of the scariest aspects of this experiment is that no one really knows how this will work out. There is no central bank intervention in the last 5 years that has improved or resolved the problems that led to GFC08. At best they've stuck us in a holding pattern. I have no faith in the BOJ's plan which is simply a much bigger version of past global CB intervention strategies that have failed to deliver. Why would theirs be any different

ROFL… yeah they've been doing it for 20 years. How's that working out. Japan sat in the midst of the largest credit boom in history yet its fiscal position deteriorated. Must have been just bad luck eh?

20 years of failure. 20 years of doing the same thing with the same result. Einstein's definition of insanity and somehow you're trying to twist that around and paint me as the doomsdayer and economic scaremonger who doesn't like the odds or faith in this approach.

But it's just more rhetoric on your part with little or no economic evidence to support your position.

The difference between you and me is that you have blind faith. I don't.

You're still waffling Ziv. You talk in circles but say nothing. You psycho analyse me and seem fixated on my motives and economic position with colorful adjectives to embellish your rhetoric but no persuasive economic argument is forthcoming.

You sound more like a politician wriggling under the spotlight and doing everything they can to avoid answering the question directly.

Watch it again. She mentions higher yield products. You don't need a crystal ball for foreign bonds

So lets re-examine what you actually said.

2. "I'm a big believer in gold". No, really? You mean like the rest of the panic mongers that fill her ranks? What a surprise. It's amazing, isn't it, how the vast majority of doomsday predictors are somehow invested in precious metals and their derivatives (yourself included, on a smaller scale).

So does that include China, Russia, Germany  and every other major central bank, hedge fund, gold bank, merchant bank etc. They're all "Panic mongers" because they invest in gold. You constantly discredit your argument with this sort comment.

So lets see about 127mil people and 1.5% are foreigners. Where are the vast majority of foreign workers employed? That's right – laborers and other low skilled work the locals don't like to do but is appropriate for foreigners. Most of the new jobs will be in elderly care for the aging population wiping bums and chins probably from bog rolls denoted in worthless yen possibly.

Yeah things change but not culturally ingrained behaviors. Cultural values once entrenched are virtually impossible to dislodge in a person. It's the cause of much of the conflict in the world. Prejudices and hatreds are literally impossible to change across a population. it's the least of their worries at the moment anyway.

IT IS NOT AN OPINION OR PREDICTION. ………………IT IS A MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY

Your response was to waffle around the subject. If you disagree then why is it not a mathematical certainty?

If I looked at any business and saw rising debt, rising costs and a declining revenue base I'd say that it was a mathematical certainty its going to fail. That's Japan. Good luck explaining how Japan overcomes that hurdle.

Two guys standing around watching a house burn down. Coming down the road is the fire brigade.

1st bloke: That's lucky fire brigades here. They'll have her out in no time.

2nd bloke: No they won't. Haven't got a show.

1st bloke: Course they will. 

2nd bloke: Not a show mate.

1st bloke: Why the hell won't they put her out ya drongo.

2nd bloke: No water.

Nope. The money is in borrowing yen @ 0.1% and buying assets, stocks or bonds that pay bucket loads more. If (as) the yen depreciates you get even more of kicker. The yen carry trade as its known is about arbitraging the differences in interest rates. In the past an appreciating yen could neutralise this trade at times but with a depreciating yen it's almost like taking candy from a baby.