I really like your commentary and I follow your posts closely. Your recent podcast on Macro Musings was also great.

One thing I don't understand is why strategists like to say Japan is in a terrible fiscal position -- even worse than the US it's often said. The fact is Japan almost balanced it's budget this year and is on track for a surplus next year. It's NIIP is massively positive -- Japan was the largest creditor country in the world for 34 years straight. Yes, there are a bunch of low yielding liabilities on the government's balance sheet but that is offset by higher yielding assets like GPIF holdings. It is also worth noting that it has been reported that the Japanese government is ultra conservative with their debt servicing costs, including in that figure extra to pay down debt. Compare that to the US with it's twin current account deficit and fiscal deficit, which is something like 7% of GDP with no end in sight. Are the two even in the same category??