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Some things in Japan are highly regulated, but it is still a relatively easy country to start up businesses.

I feel regulation has played a huge part in the Japanese automobile industry. Taxes are too high to drive old cars, so everyone buys cars far more often. More car purchases means a stronger automobile industry. In other countries around the world there is virtually no regulation. Hence, all those old cars falling apart everywhere. Drive around any country in Eastern Europe and you are bound to see cars broken down on the side of the road. You will never see that in Japan.

Also, high gasoline taxes encourage demand for smaller and more fuel efficient cars. Japanese companies only make those ridiculously large trucks for the North American market.

In addition, MITI played a huge role in jump starting many industries, including the car industry. I would say that regulation played an integral role here.

If the US had higher fuels taxes, stricter emission standards, demanding vehicle inspections and car taxes, American car companies would be in a much stronger position now. That is all regulation.

Your saying lobbyists and corporate interests are problems – I agree with you – but these are problems of big government, not free markets. So I don’t get your point…are you saying we need to have more economic freedom and get rid of them? Then why the comment about socialism?

The problem, as I see it, is effectively separating government from business. Unless you advocate lessaiz faire capitalism, which would be disastrous, there will be an intersection of government and business. This intersection is where the corruption occurs.

The comments were not about socialism, but socialist policies. Things like progressive taxation, publicly funded education, welfare and health care contribute to the quality of life that we enjoy. Of course the US and Nothern Europe are not socialist. But the countries that have the highest quality of life (N. Europe consistently bests the US) have more socialist policies, generally speaking.

Your saying lobbyists and corporate interests are problems – I agree with you – but these are problems of big government, not free markets. So I don’t get your point…are you saying we need to have more economic freedom and get rid of them? Then why the comment about socialism?

The freest countries in the world have the highest quality of life, like US and Northern Europe and all those you mentioned. Those aren’t socialist countries. So it’s def not an issue of trading one for the other.

I also did not say that the US had stellar schools. I did say that, on average, N. Europe and North America have decent schools. Let’s not represent what I said ;) It goes to the quality of life issue, obviously. Would you exchange your quality of life for more of what you consider economic freedom?

“I find it rather annoying that the average business income tax rate in the U.S. is now around 45%, which means the government owns about 45% of the production of our economy. We are about 45% socialist by that measure.”

That may have been said in a moment of frustration, and you may have meant to say something else, but we are only responding to the words you used in your article.

That’s what I said…it fell to #8 or #9 in the world, at its lowest and isn’t even that low now. There are a ton of countries in the world! #9 is still better than most, lol.

My point was that it’s losing ground recently with a general trend toward socialism and might not be the best.