The agony of Japan Inc.

Black Monday messages on Facebook and Twitter have gone viral in Italy as people have had enough of austerity, job losses, and uncertainty. La Stampa reports on Panic in the Network. What follows is a Mish-revised translation of select ideas and quotes from the article. My specific comments are in brackets.

Europe is in the midst of "prolonged agony" of housing market decline with no obvious end in sight, a report by surveyors claims.

Empirical research has shown that "opportunity-driven" entrepreneurship is the wellspring of growth in the modern market economy. In Japan, the relative dearth of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship has contributed to the nation's economic malaise over the past two decades -- since the asset price bubble burst in 1991.

In Japan things have gone from Grim to Grimmer. The Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing PMI™ shows Japanese manufacturing sector contracts at sharpest rate for 19 months in November. Key points: Output and new orders both continue to decline Capital goods producers register sharpest falls in production and sales Inventories and employment cut amid subdued economic outlook Summary:

A torrent of bad news hit Japan in November. Please consider some details from the Bloomberg article Japan Factory Output Falls on Global Slump

In an effort to halt expansion of Japan's massive public debt, Japan's Prime Minister Seeks Doubling National Sales Tax. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said containing Japan’s public debt load, the world’s largest, is critical after Standard & Poor’s downgraded credit ratings on France, Austria and seven other European nations.