Japan's trend growth is zero. This is business as usual, not bad economy. If we want recession to mean bad economy, definition of recession for Japan needs to be revised.
The public debt can be traded away with the high foreign exchange reserves or inflated away if it becomes a problem. There's no need to worry too much about it now as all the creditors seem eager to roll it over at low rates forever.
I'm not recommending hyperinflation. Countries like Japan and the USA with their current levels of debt will someday have to inflate or they will have to renounce the debt officially. That is a mathematical certainty.
But that day is a long way off. Low inflation is better. If exchange rates are out of balance, such as in Japan in 2010, inflation in the prices of only imports should be sufficient and that should be moderate at worst.
Remember the late 90s, when Fed chairman Greenspan was terrified the national debt might actually be paid off someday (denying the rich an investment in our future taxes)?
actually, you want to destroy savings to get a growing economy, because it incentivises spending. Why hold onto yen if they'll be worthless in a year? Might as well turn them into tangibles now
That's not really how investment works. For a private company to be able to invest in infrastructure and equipment, you need access to hard cash, and therefore savings procured through banks as lenders. If everything is at credit, it's not sustainable.
It's time we start to distinguish between financial and real assets. Financial assets are not "real".
Growing an economy is building infrastructure, knowledge, real and human capital. Things that allow improve the quality of life of the people.
Inflation could imply redistribution but not necessarily destroying real assets. Deflation, in the other hand can only be solved by destroying real economy in order to adjust it to the financial economy.
"Deflation, in the other hand can only be solved by destroying real economy in order to adjust it to the financial economy."
Abenomics had no trouble reversing deflation in 2010-2013. You just have to really mean it and not depend on the bankers to do it for you. There was zero harm to the real economy.
See http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=31307.