The progressive issue many progressives don't seem to like

[jeff47]

78. Ok, apparently you're going to take everything I say extremely literally

I'm not saying there would be absolutely no sales in a deflationary economy.

I'm saying the economy would be doing really crappy. If you need examples, look to Spain and Greece. Because of the Euro, they are effectively going through large-scale deflation.

As for Japan, no you aren't in a deflationary economy. Take a look here. Japan reported 0.3% inflation in February (the last month reported). That's about the same as the US.

As for "is deflation is good for Japan", consider Japan's "Lost decade". Everywhere else in the developed world had a booming economy in the 90s. Even with the tech bubble burst, everywhere else was better off at the end of the 90s - GDP, adjusted for inflation, was up. Wages, adjusted for inflation, rose. Wages did so well that for the first time since the 1970s, wages went up at the bottom of the income scale in the US.

Except for Japan. GDP and real wages were flat at best, and fell in some years. Doesn't really help that your Yen can buy 5% more at the market when you're getting paid 6% less. And while an individual might have emerged with their earnings not going down, that isn't true of the economy as a whole.

As for that interest rate, that's because someone with good credit can always borrow a few percent over expected inflation. US expected inflation is about 2% and mortgages are available at 4-someodd %.