The flip side

In reading about the economic stimulus package passed today by U.S. House Democrats, I came across two editorials written in newspapers that seem to exist on different planets.

Here's the Wall St. Journal's "A 40-Year Wish List." Which criticizes the Obama Administration's "spending bonanza" on mass transit, childcare, arts, global warming, Medicaid, unemployment, food stamps and the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit for "people who don't pay income tax"

And here's the New York Times' "The Stimulus Advances." Which praises the Obama Administration's "carefully" calculated spending on mass transit, childcare, Medicaid, unemployment, food stamps and the "good tax policy" of the EITC.

The contrast is rather amusing.

Economic troubles

As I wrote the previous post, about our upcoming vaca in Bali, I considered how out-of-touch we are, as expats in Tokyo, with the US financial crisis.

Unlike most Americans in the US, where costs for food, gas, and other commodities have risen and where many people are losing their homes, we pretty much live on a fixed budget with fixed costs, thanks to subsidies for housing, utilities and education from the Washington Post.

We don't have a car (though I often consider buying one), so we're unaffected by gas prices, and I've figured out how to buy groceries here without breaking the bank on $5 Japanese apples or pricey Japanese beef. Also, we've taken a pay-as-you-go approach to credit cards and have zero debt other than our Seattle mortgage. And we almost never buy expensive stuff, clothes, purses, shoes, or trinkets - even though that definitely puts me on the least-well-dressed list among expat wives.

So other than a shocking decline in our 401ks or other investment accounts, which we hopefully won't need for several years, I'm feeling fortunate that we can be cautious about our spending and ride out the next few years.

Blaine's latest...

... is his second enterprise story from the Philippines, about the incredible shortage of doctors there because the vast majority leave the Philippines to make more money working as nurses in the US. End result: the proportion of Filipinos dying without medical attention is a stunning 70 percent.

Here's the video he did for the story. He was with the hospital's chief doctor during a power shortage, when he went to see an elderly man who'd died in his bed.

But that's not all! On Friday, Blaine had an unusually revealing interview with a top guy at Japan's central bank.

The banker was surprisingly open about Japan's dependence on the US economy and banking stability, saying, as Blaine put it, that Japan is "captive" to the US economy and had no choice but to do a $60 billion currency swap with the Federal Reserve.

Blaine's latest...

Blaine has been extraordinarily busy in the past 10 days. Lots of breaking news and ongoing developments for the WP's East Asia bureau, such as:

The global financial crisis.

The health of Kim Jong-il and N Korean nuclear policy.

The resignation of the Japanese PM.

The weak dollar

I should add... It doesn't help American expats in Tokyo that the dollar has fallen to record lows against the Japanese yen. On our scouting trip here last May/June, $1 was worth about 120 yen; today, it's down to 95 yen/dollar. Ugh.

Wall St. and Tokyo

Daily news reports from US often don't affect the lives of expat families in Tokyo, but the recent economic crisis and particularly the failure of Bear Stearns has some families wondering if they could be tossed out of the expat life unexpectedly.

Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers have huge offices in Roppongi Hills, an office and shopping complex near our house, which is also near Lucinda's and Arno's schools - which means that many Goldman and Lehman families live nearby and send their kids to Nishimachi and Willowbrook. I've also met parents (mainly dads) who work for JP Morgan and various other banks.

Some columns and news reports today and yesterday say that Lehman could follow Bear Stearns into trouble; this WashPost report says the markets will watch closely when Goldman and Lehman report their earnings in the coming days/weeks. I'm sure the families will be watching, too.

These financial hiccups also make international-school administrators a little nervous. The headmaster of Nishimachi held an info session last week and told parents that the school's building improvements and expansion plans are of course partly dependent on tuition payments from companies that foot the bill for employees' children. (including, say, the Washington Post.) Massive bank layoffs = fewer students.