[thundrakkon]

Originally Posted by hamstar

Spoiler for Saving Space:

Hyperinflation does not correct itself, in fact it never has. Name me any fiat currency that has stood the test of time, there are none, absolutely none. Once trust in fiat is completely diminished with something like hyperinflation government will eventually have to reissue a new currency to replace the old one, this is textbook history.

Takedasaki theorised that hyperinflating the money supply would make the Japanese yen lose credibility and that is exactly what happened. They all wanted to swap their yen for dollars as you saw in the episode. Now what good would it do Mikuni to print more Midas Money/Yen when the public sees it as worthless? He wouldn't be able to prop up any failing industries when the yen is seen as worthless. It would make it impossible for Mikuni to artificially prop up failing comanies and enterprises even if he used the rotary press.

The whole idea that is pushed by the show is to accept loss when it comes to you. If you artificially prop up failing companies with cheap credit it leads to the same problems down the road just as we saw in episode 9. You saw that Mikuni tried to save the failing companies and enterprises with a 'stimulus' of money but the long term effect seen was largely negative. Simply kicking the can forward does not solve the issue. You have to let failing institutions fail and let others take their place. Governments have to be disciplined when it comes to fiat currencies backed by nothing.

The show hasn't made any major blunders that make a need for an intelligent viewer to stretch his believability. Yes, the show uses magical alternate realities, terms like entrepreneurer, asset, etc but anyone that knows anything about economics knows that these terms represent something completely different in the context of the show.

Now, if you really wanted to criticise something about the show I'd probably question how the higher ups were ever able to get this show on the air in the first place. This show really only caters to a tiny segment of the population that is interested in economics and money. Spicing up premise of the show with alternate realities and pokemon battles is not enough to attract viewership. I honestly have no idea what they were thinking when they decided to air this show but I'm very happy it happened.

For the most part, I agree with your assessment. Hyperinflation has always been bad, but it eventually corrects itself many decades later when the economy recovers. It will never gain back its value, but it will correct the over-value of money.

What is unbelievable, however, is that the show wanted to make hyperinflation as a solution to the problem, even though that would essentially destroy Japan's economy. So it is like saying, "let's save Japan by destroying it." That does stretch one's faith in believability.