|
|
Article: The Yen: Japan's Reality Check
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 20, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
Someone will someday write the definitive history of the
swindle of the century. For now, we must content ourselves with the
bare facts. During the 1980s, Japanese insurance companies, banks
and corporations bought hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign
stocks, bonds and real estate (office buildings, hotels, resorts).
On these investments, the Japanese have suffered catastrophic
losses, often 50 percent or more. What's astonishing, though, is
that the swindle was mostly self-inflicted. It was mainly eager
Japanese buyers - and not fast-talking foreign salesmen - who fed
the buying frenzy.
All this is now relevant because it explains the yen's dramatic
rise to a postwar high of 97 ...