Turning Japanese?

Japan is in a difficult situation. They have a huge amount of debt. It has come to the point that if interest rates rise, most of the government revenues will have to be dedicated to paying it. The Japanese government has proposed doubling the sales tax. While this will help, it will not close the Japanese budget gap. 

Japan is also getting older. This means that the amount of debt per person in the workforce is going up. The same problem exists in Japan for retirees as in the US. There is no trust fund. It is actually worse in the US because Japan does own some US government debt. That changes the chart on the right, making the Japanese situation better than the chart would indicate—assuming that the US will actually pay the debt. 

Has Japan reached the point of "no return" yet? Probably. One logical place for the next crisis to begin is in Japan. 

If the current trends continue then the US will soon be in the situation Japan is in now. The debt will increase at least 1 trillion every year, assuming the US does not get into another war. If the US does, then the deficit will skyrocket. The US has not yet reached the point of "no return." Time remains to act on the deficit as it will take more than ten years to get to the place Japan is now. 

Will the US use that time wisely? 

Or is the US turning Japanese? 

I still find it ironic that pop music knows we are turning Japanese, but we are blind to it.