@AverageJoeit was the US told the japanese to go to ultralow...

@AverageJoe

it was the US told the japanese to go to ultralow rates and printing to get to inflation back in the 1980s or 90s. Larry Summers refreshed the message when he was Treasury Secretary . the Japanese were the dominant buyer of US debt. So the theory was they would get a big benefit from an almost perpetual carry trade and use the positive yield to fund both their purchases + other govt spending

it reflected the Japanese having the best savings rate of OECD countries and so GDP wasnt - and still isnt a direct pointer to Japanese ability to meet their own debt costs from gdp. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2018/09/02/commentary/japan-commentary/japan-savings-superpower-world/

this is a strategic underpinning (pre Trump) to US policy to fund + protect Japan militarily. though this relationship has gradually been weakening in recent times

so its not much of a pointer toward sustainability of high debt levels for other countries.

think of it as having a friendly giant brother and big savings cash pile and investments that return a good yield - and your brother and you toss each other cash if and when real dramas occur.

so your wage (gdp) doesnt tell you how much debt you can handle

countries not in that situation (pretty much the rest of the world apart from the US and possibly China) - dont have that same capacity or set of mutually reinforcing beneficial financial relationships