Not trivial, but 1% is not huge either, especially when it would be applied invisibly to consumption costs, affecting the wealthy more than the poor. We survived GST introduction of 10%. We survived petrol going from 80 cents to $1.60 in less than 2 years. To keep it short, you've made a case for it not being trivial but you haven't defended the authors claim that it is 'destructive' to a 4 trillion economy. Obviously destructive is a relative term too. In contrast, cleanup of the nuclear plant is estimated at $108 billion and the land lost due to radiation is estimated to have a value of $250-500B USD.
I think it's the usual media hype and spin, and I think it's a flawed logic to say that the Japanese are going to be out on the streets demanding the nuclear plants get turned back on to save them from all that financial pain.
PEN Price at posting:
2.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
