雅思阅读考试：Whoselostdecade.docVIP

雅思阅读考试：Whose lost decade? 　　雅思阅读：Whose lost decade? 　　Japans economy works better than pessimists think—at least for the elderly. 　　THE Japanese say they suffer from an economic disease called structural pessimism. Overseas too, there is a tendency to see Japan as a harbinger of all that is doomed in the economies of the euro zone and America—even though figures released on November 14th show its economy grew by an annualised 6% in the third quarter, rebounding quickly from the March tsunami and nuclear disaster. 　　Look dispassionately at Japans economic performance over the past ten years, though, and the second lost decade, if not the first, is a misnomer. Much of what tarnishes Japans image is the result of demography—more than half its population is over 45—as well as its poor policy in dealing with it. Even so, most Japanese have grown richer over the decade. 　　In aggregate, Japans economy grew at half the pace of Americas between 2001 and 2010. Yet if judged by growth in GDP per person over the same period, then Japan has outperformed America and the euro zone (see chart 1). In part this is because its population has shrunk whereas Americas population has increased. 　　Though growth in labour productivity fell slightly short of Americas from 2000 to 2008, total factor productivity, a measure of how a country uses capital and labour, grew faster, according to the Tokyo-based Asian Productivity Organisation. Japans unemployment rate is higher than in 2000, yet it remains about half the level of America and Europe (see chart 2). 　　Besides supposed stagnation, the two other curses of the Japanese economy are debt and deflation. Yet these also partly reflect demography and can be overstated. People often think of Japan as an indebted country. In fact, it is the worlds biggest creditor nation, boasting ?253 trillion ($3.3 trillion) in net foreign assets. 　　To be sure, its government is a large debtor; its net debt as a share of GDP is one of the highest in the OECD.