praxeologist on Nostr: If you wanna deeply investigate how fucked up a democratic fiat state could be, ...

If you wanna deeply investigate how fucked up a democratic fiat state could be, there's no better case study than Japan in 20th century
https://mises.org/quarterly-journal-austrian-economics/end-abe-administration-end-abenomics-books-past-and-present-japanese-political-economy

Also this:

quoting nevent1q…z8ke

Japan was the first major global power to develop a comprehensive social security system, expanding its principles and achieving remarkable success.

The country became a global leader in life expectancy and was also at the forefront of education. By the mid-1970s, about 90% of its population had completed high school—a stark contrast to the UK, where the figure was only 32%. In terms of social equality, Japan outpaced all Western nations except Sweden. It also managed the largest pension fund in the world, allowing its retirees to enjoy generous benefits and a steady income throughout long years of retirement. Notably, Japan accomplished this while allocating just 9% of its national income to social insurance in 1975, compared to Sweden’s 31%. In the UK, the burden of taxes and social security was roughly half that amount. Japan had successfully made welfare accessible to all, all while its economy grew rapidly enough to become the second-largest globally by 1968. A year earlier, Herman Kahn had predicted that by 2000, Japan’s per capita income would surpass that of the United States. Indeed, Yakagawa Natsuhiro stated that when accounting for additional benefits, "the real income of a Japanese worker is now at least three times that of an American worker."

The extraordinary success of Japan’s social security system was so profound that by the 1970s, the Japanese enjoyed the highest life expectancy in the world. However, this longevity, coupled with a declining birthrate, resulted in the world’s oldest population, with 21% of its citizens aged 65 or older. According to international economic research by Nakame, by 2044, the elderly population is projected to equal the working population. Consequently, Japan is now facing a deep structural crisis in its social security system, which was not designed to handle such demographic challenges. Despite raising the retirement age, the government has yet to resolve the issues within the public pension system. The situation has been exacerbated by many self-employed individuals and students being unable to afford their social security contributions. Furthermore, the universal health insurance program has been running a budget deficit since the 1990s. Today, Japan’s social security budget consumes three-quarters of its tax revenue, and its national debt has surpassed one quadrillion yen, or approximately 170% of its gross domestic product.

Note: The statistics cited are from 2008, making them 17 years old.

Source: The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World

#grownostr #japan #welfarestate

#grownostr #fiatstates #fiathistory #democracy #debtcrisis #japan