11 March 2011.
Japan’s huge earthquake, Tsunami and huge aftershocks, are not only devastating for the people of Japan, but are devastating to Japan’s economic recovery, as well as the world’s economic recovery.
Infrastructure for densely populated areas of Japan, hit by the flooding, are destroyed. Nuclear power plants are shut down. One nuclear power plant is in emergency mode because its cooling system, and back up systems, have failed. Auto manufacturing plants have been shut down. A major oil refinery is on fire. A lot of the land flooded by the Tsunami is farm land, which means no crops this year, adding to the what the UN is calling a World Food Supply Crisis for 2011.
This on going event of Mother Earth is adding insult to injury for Japan’s struggle for economic recovery. Before the quake hit, Japan’s so called recovery stalled, with its credit rating downgraded because the country is deep in debt. Recently there was hope that investors would start buying up stocks in Japanese companies, because they were considered a bargain, and, it was thought they would pick up in value as the Japanese recovery picked up steam. Now all that is in doubt.
It looks like Japan, helped by Mother Earth, might become the next domino to fall in the world economic crisis.
