This is not the Country’s Debt but the Government’s Debt – The Citizens are the Government’s Creditors!

In fact more than 90% of Japanese government bonds are in the hands of Japanese citizens. Government bonds are issued in yen, so it does not make sense to compare Japan with Greece. Japan’s government bonds are issued in yen, and even if those who own them pass away, the bonds will remain as assets owned by the next generation of Japanese citizens.

I call on politicians to stop talking about “national debt” when they should be talking about government bonds. It is the government that is in debt. The people of Japan are its creditors. The people own the bonds. They are in the black.

The country does not make its balance sheets public, but it is clear at a glance that Japan has over 500 trillion yen in assets. The government simply never talks about them. They have built roads, bridges, a lot of new public buildings and airports. These are all assets, not debts. It is different from just being in debt.

On the other hand, if they issue government bonds to throw money away, it would be just debts. Although they put to use the tax money they collected for child allowances, education allowances, benefits for senior citizens, and other social benefits, the economic benefit would be zero if the money is not used. The money the government has collected has simply been moved back to the public sector. There is absolutely no economic benefit to that.

“Businesses produce goods and pay salaries to their employees. Employees use their salaries to buy goods.” This is the kind of economic development that has to happen in order to make money and taxes work. (end of quote)