Since the US and many Western economies have gone on a borrowing spree, it would seem prudent to look for ideas on how to manage the debt overhang. Satyajit Das looks at Japan which has preserved high standards of living and scores well on social indicators. Das explains why Japan’s experience is not terribly generalizable to ours. Japan has a very high domestic savings rate. It also remained an export powerhouse even if its domestic economy was suffering. And an intriguing observation: Japan’s much decried demographic decline was actually an advantage in managing its debt burden […]