The problem with Japan is a lack of domestic demand says Andrew Smithers.

The problem with overvalued currencies according to Andrew Smithers.

The problem with liquidity when people refuse to conserve.

The problem is not with Japans bank says Andrew Smithers.

\"As an engine of recovery, lower interest rates often work - but not always. Over the past 50 years or so, they have worked in the US, where there is a dangerous tendency to ignore both the experience of other countries and the longer term at home. We cannot know when lower interest rates will cause recovery unless we know why. Economists don\'t have one answer, they have several. The boost can come through a devaluation, higher investment or lower savings. None looks a likely winner today. Fortunately, if lower interest rates don\'t do the trick, tax cuts or higher public spending probably will. Japan\'s recent experience shows that even this is far from guaranteed.\"

\"Economists differ about capitalism. Marxists see its crisis as leading inevitably to collapse. Others call it creative destruction, the precursors of ever-greater success. Paul O\'Neill, the new US Treasury Secretary, has a third view. He believes in capitalism without crisis.\"

\"Andrew Smithers writes that personalities don\'t usually matter much in economics. At the moment, looking at the U.S. and Japan, they could matter a lot. To know why, do read the piece.\"