I'm not sure I see Japan doing that ... for one thing, China is right there next door, so doing a full Thatcherite lobotomy of their industrial economy is a scarier thing.

And on the other hand, its something more than an inconvenience to China if Japan goes belly up, at least in the next decade or so. Lots of Chinese exports go out with Japanese designs under Japanese QC and with a Japanese brand, including assembled with Japanese components. My impression is Japan is a more integral part of the production side of the Chinese economy than North America or the EU.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.