What Japan should learn from former British Prime Minister Liz Truss——–by Arc Times staff
Robin Harding, Asia Editor of the Financial Times, appeared remotely on Arc Times: The News on December 6, 2022, and pointed out that Japan should learn from the mistakes of the British Truss administration when Japan expands defense spending.
“Historically, around the world, military spending, periods of military spending are associated with strong economies,” Harding said. “It tends to drive economic activity. Whether it does in a good way or a bad way, that’s a different question.”
“It comes down to how the market understands the intention of the politicians,” Harding warned.
“For years now, the question has been, you’ve got zero interest rates, the market is basically saying, you can borrow for free,” Harding said. “The trouble is when politicians see this and think they can abuse it, and that’s what happened in the UK. That doesn’t work.”
“So I think the crucial question in Japan is the intention. If markets think the intention is just we don’t care anymore, we’re just going to spend. Then there will be a problem,” Harding said. “When markets think that politicians have just decided, oh it doesn’t matter, we will print money out of thin air, that’s when you get Liz Truss.”
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