Comments (11)

• Matthew Wilson

  Hi; do you create/publish transcripts of your interviews? (same question goes for Lew's interviews on lewrockwell.com)

  Published: September 30, 2008 6:59 PM

• a Chinese student

  Why not publish transcripts of your interviews?

  Published: September 30, 2008 7:26 PM

• N. Joseph Potts

  I wouldn't mind if you gave the approximate length (time) for people diving into this.

  Published: September 30, 2008 8:36 PM

• Jeffrey Tucker

  Oh I think it might be 25 mins.

  Published: September 30, 2008 9:19 PM

• Patrick Crozier

  Great interview. Japan v2.0 eh?

  Published: October 1, 2008 4:02 AM

• Bauer

  ....Frank Shostak does have very worthwhile information to convey -- but it's agony trying to pluck it out of that meandering 28-minute MP3 'fun interview'.

  (Shostak's thick accent doesn't help either).

  Why waste people's time with that format?

  A transcript is a better communication method, that can be easily scanned by readers at their own pace; even better is a short text summary of Shostak's key points.

  I hate MP3 & YouTube(Flash) formats for academic material -- if it's worth hearing, it's worth texting.
  An MP3 should only be used as a 'secondary' link to the information.

  The objective is efficient communication... for 'fun' I listen to 'music' MP3's.

  Published: October 1, 2008 6:34 AM

• Ohhh Henry

  "Great interview. Japan v2.0 eh?

  That is what I consider to be the nub of the issue.

  Shostak says that it appears that they are aiming to put the financial industry, at best, into a "zombie" state in which nobody goes broke, but the economy never gets going again - perhaps not for 2 decades, or more. This is far more attractive to politicians because, the theory goes, there is no catastrophic failure of large banks or other industrial concerns and therefore there will be no sharp trauma or political upheaval. He has a strong case for this because it is what happened in Japan.

  While I won't argue with the financial and policy analysis which leads to this conclusion, I wonder if there are other, unique factors at work in Japan which make it possible for them to remain in this permanent and quite peaceful zombie state. Such as the docility of ordinary Japanese, and the strong "Japan Inc." team attitude inculcated into Japanese businessmen and government officials.

  Whereas in the USA the ordinary people have a strong "hell no, we aren't going to take this" attitude, most businessmen would happily see all other businesses goes down in flames as long as they've got theirs, and the political front is dominated by fanatical ideologues such as the neocons who grasp at power like tinpot tyrants and who would disrupt and destabilize the entire world in order to further the aims of a few well-connected business concerns (and the Likud party).

  Because of this, I wonder if there exists for the USA any "sweet spot" of zombie-like stability.

  Published: October 1, 2008 10:15 AM

• Yancey Ward

  Ah, but a transcript would not be introduced by Holst.

  Published: October 1, 2008 10:35 AM

• Caveman (intellectually-speaking)

  Bauer: I think your criticism of the format is too strong. Keep in mind that someone has to actually transcribe the interview to produce a transcript. [Jeffrey, why didn't you tap your inexhaustible supply of minions and have the interview transcribed in real time?!] I'd much rather have the information in audio form if it means getting it the same day instead of next week. What's more, being able to listen to the interview allowed me up to read, type, etc at the same time. A transcript would require me to stop what I'm doing to read it. Nonetheless, I can certainly see the value in a transcript being produced at some point for the benefit of those who prefer text or for persons whose primary language is not English.

  Whatever the format, Mr. Shostak's analysis is razor-sharp and enlightening. He clearly has a mastery of Austrian theory yet--unlike many analysts--is very humble in his knowledge. Great interview. Thanks, Jeffrey!

  Published: October 1, 2008 11:36 AM

• Dave

  I for one like the mp3s. I listen to them while I walk at lunch.

  My question is: How do we position our investments in light of this information? Do we hold cash assuming we can see when it turns the corner to hyperinflation or do we just put our money into hard assets now, just to be sure?

  Published: October 1, 2008 12:05 PM

• george

  Japan has (had?) a large pile of local savings. The US needs to borrow 3B/day or else needs to print 3B/day.

  All this bailout is to bailout the foreign holders of US debt so that they might keep lending to the US. Otherwise congress would have to stop spending money they don't have.

  Between the current spending, bailout spending, possible interest rate increases on the US debt , I could see 1T+ deficits (like next year?). A few years of that and the *interest* on the debt will be several T each year.

  How long can this hold together?

  Published: October 1, 2008 6:40 PM