Sep 04 (ruetir.com) - Japan has the highest public debt in the world, equal to 258 percent of its Gross Domestic Product. It is the result of a series of policies that governments over the last 30 years have implemented to stimulate an asphyxiated and non-growing economy.
However, it is a public debt that has never aroused great concern on the part of international investors, thanks to particular characteristics of the Japanese economy, such as the fact that the debt is held largely by the central bank and local investors, that the state owns a substantial asset as a guarantee and that pension spending is under control despite the aging population. However, it has become a school case of how even a very high debt can be sustainable, so much so that often in Italy many politicians, analysts and commentators use it as an example of the fact that a high public debt is not a problem after all. But a lot of caution is still needed in trying to adapt the Japanese model to Italy, whose public debt corresponds to 144.4 percent of GDP. ...continue reading
