Friday, January 28, 2011

I Think I'm Turning Japanese (Musical Tribute)

January 27, 2011
The New York Times: In Japan, Young Face Generational Roadblocks

“Japan has the worst generational inequality in the world,” said Manabu Shimasawa, a professor of social policy at Akita University who has written extensively on such inequalities. “Japan has lost its vitality because the older generations don’t step aside, allowing the young generations a chance to take new challenges and grow.”


Click to enlarge.

I had no idea that the younger workers of Japan had it so bad. As seen in the chart above, it is roughly half as bad as it is for the younger workers in America.

We do not want to end up like Japan. I must therefore beg older workers to step aside. Please. Do it for the children.


We've only had one decade of extremely poor stock market performance. Japan has had two. See? Our situation isn't even remotely the same. If you are an older worker, there's absolutely no reason to keep working.

“In France, the young people take to the streets,” Mr. Takahashi said. “In Japan, they just don’t pay.”

The young people in France take to the streets? Let's add that to the chart. Maybe there's some sort of clue to be found there.


Click to enlarge.

As a side note, if you happen to have a 40-year-old unemployed girlfriend who is back in college in an attempt to compete more effectively with the younger workers of the future, then welcome to the club. We aren't even Japanese. Yet.



Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: United States Unemployment (Ages 20-24)
St. Louis Fed: Japan Unemployment (Ages 20-24)
St. Louis Fed: France Unemployment (Ages 20-24)

6 comments:

watchtower said...

“In France, the young people take to the streets,” Mr. Takahashi said. “In Japan, they just don’t pay.”

And in the US the youths smoke a little dope and say f*** it.

Stagflationary Mark said...

watchtower,

And drop out of school, are arrested, and then placed in jail which helps keep the unemployment rate down. Sort of.

October 8, 2009
Study Finds High Rate of Imprisonment Among Dropouts

The report puts the collective cost to the nation over the working life of each high school dropout at $292,000.

So we've got that going for us too.

Here's the shocking part.

“None of these guys can afford to own a home, they just don’t have any money,” he said.

EconomicDisconnect said...

If Jersey Shore ever goes off air, it will be tanks in the street!

EconomicDisconnect said...

Mark,
no kidding that paper is so well written I could duplicate the work. Very interesting.

Anonymous said...

Crank up the draft :). Peacekeepers of the world :)

Stagflationary Mark said...

Anonymous,

Perhaps I better start dusting off the "Walk Like an Egyptian" musical tribute. D'oh! ;)