Japan and the United States

I'm trying to make sense of what is economically happening to the United States by comparing Japan and the United States as countries in the world. This might be useful or not depending upon your point of view.

First of all though Japan's per hour labor costs are significantly lower than ours there major disadvantage on the world stage is having a really great work force without enough natural resources. So, there biggest obstacle to continued economic growth has been the price of energy, since they have to import all energy except nuclear. Energy in the form of oil and the price of it is one of Japan's biggest potential problems.

Then we look at the United States with almost unlimited natural resources. However, the size of our country by being large is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is an advantage in the diversity of resources. It is a disadvantage in how much it costs to disperse those resources not only around the country but also worldwide. Our labor costs are some of the very highest on earth because of our relatively high standard of living. We are likely the largest population wise nation with this high a general standard of living. Even though China probably has an equal amount of people living at our standard of living, they also have another 700 million living in relative poverty which changes their dynamic completely from ours. So comparing the United States to China in this way is like comparing apples and oranges. The problems of the United States and China are just too different from each other.

So, the disadvantages that the United States has are hugeness and diversity, high wages and an aging highway infrastructure, especially bridges. However, hugeness and diversity is also an advantage. High wages are ONLY and advantage within the United States.

However, the advantages of the United States are incredible natural resources of every kind, being a melting pot of all nations on earth to the point where all nations see the United States as a place where their most successful relatives often live. Though this might make people left in their home nations jealous, still the United States and opportunity and a life there is something to aspire to for people of all nations.

So, I guess what I am finding while writing this is that Japan because of higher than average wages and the United States because of really high wages are not competitive in the manufacturing of most products. This puts both nations in a very difficult position at this time on the world stage of international trade. I think this might be the primary reason that Japan has been having economic troubles since the 1990s and one of the major factors that the United States is having such difficulties now. Even though there are many other factors I think the issues I have mentioned might be the primary or base causes of Japan's economic downturn starting in the 1990s and the Economic Collapse of the United States, especially in Credit Markets, Banking and Mortgages.