In this surprising article by Jesper Koll of the Far Eastern Economic Review, we are presented with some reasons why Japan looks to be set for a bullish recovery in the next few months. Primarily, Koll looks at the amount of patents filed in Japan when compared with the China and the USA. He also looks at the ratio of patents to engineers between China and Japan. Then, he discusses the general financial practices of the Japanese people: spend less, take on less foolish debt, and possible restructuring and reform in the public sector.

One of the key points Koll makes is that the Japanese corporate picture has become vastly different from the Amerian one. Japanese companies are not asking for governement handouts or public assistance anymore. While companies in the West are scrambling for stimuli, Japan is trying to innovate and RND its way out of the current situation.

This is a pretty convincing argument.