Any know why the Yen is valued

so differently? Why don't they crop off a couple zeros (no pun intended) and have an economy where a pair of sneakers do not cost 140,000?

Part of me has speculated over pas couple of years, that USD is heading the same way.

Oooh Ooh Mr. Kotter,
I know the answer to this one !!

(Go ahead Horshack...)

The reason the yen is valued the way it is stems from the aftermath of
WWII and the rebuilding of the Japanese economic model into a slush fund
for American and European Corporations.

First, a little history:

For many years after the Japanese surrendered, Dollar/Yen was Valued in the hundreds of yen to the US buck, although exch. rates varied more wildly back then. Times were obvoiusly different. But, up until 1971, the USD/JPY was seldom quoted better than 380 yen to the dollar. Around that time, the Yen was revalued at 300~306 to the Dollar and has been climbing ever since. Spiking to 250~260 in the Eighties (the Dollars hey-day), the USD has been dropping ever since too.

Now, without penning a disertation on the Asian Economic Cycle, suffice it to say that the Biggest Global players determined they need a place to BANK.
Not so much a place to keep the money, more like a place to fudge the numbers.

So, as the last Major boom/bust cylcle came round (read Major, like 15 - 20 years worth) all the pieces of the machine fell into place.
The Japanese Fiat currency, the Yen could be used to fund all kinds of projects and ideas, both public and private.

The only currency more Fiat than the Fiat USD is the YEN.

Okay, I know the economic model is different (exports, trade surplus, all that stuff) but the underlying economy is extremely fragile and puffed up just enough to hurt itself even worse than it has been if it fell down.

Now, here's the BEEF:

Even though the global economy has made the world smaller and the large interests who play in these arenas could have easily restructured the Yen to be quoted in more viable units( it happens to other currencies every year) it can't happen for the Yen

An old accounting axiom, if you lose a 100 dollars, you may spend all nite trying to find it. If you lose a 100 million, no one cares. No one believes it could happen. Must be an error. Fix it next quarter.

So, it is much easier to move, hide, lose, steal, cover-up, or otherwise lie about 100's of trillions of Yen than it is to do so with a much smaller number.

The larger the number, the more room there is to fudge the books.
If the current sub-prime debacle were being quoted in Yen instead of Dollars,
alot of people who don't have a job, or even a pulse could still be getting approved for 80/20 no doc loans, interest-only with a 5yr balloon.

Hell, they could have probably swept the whole thing under the rug.

"...500 zillion Yen, ahh so what ? that's like what 25 bucks or something ?..."

Anyway, it's becaue of this NUMERICAL AMBIGUITY that the actual values can be distorted to suit the needs of the distorter. Over time the distortion can become so great that the true values aren't even real anymore, so it doesn't matter how much is the Yen - it's not real.

Now THIS is a fascinating perspective! Thanks a lot Toshi!

Superb answer!

I like this part:

" The larger the number, the more room there is to fudge the books.
...

Anyway, it's becaue of this NUMERICAL AMBIGUITY that the actual values can be distorted to suit the needs of the distorter. Over time the distortion can become so great that the true values aren't even real anymore, so it doesn't matter how much is the Yen - it's not real."

It all makes sense now

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