Here to tell us about it is Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers. Mr. Secretary, welcome. Good to be with you. And they ve also recognized that it s important for them to receive support when there is a crisis, that that support be centered in the IMF, that these are truly global problems, but that the countries of this region also be prepared to provide regional support for each other. I think that s the common element in the emerging markets cases.
Japan s a very different case.
Its problems are very much problems it has solved internally, though its finding a solution to them is very important for the rest of Asia and for the whole global economy. A silver lining in the difficulties in Japan and other countries. It was suggested on this program the other night that Japan might even be better off when all of this was said and done, when the dust finally settles, because of adjustments it s going to be forced to make. I think there s an opportunity in this for Japan to have some of the same kinds of changes that we had in the United States in the 1980's that helped make our firms much more competitive. But they face important short-term challenges, and the most important of those are that they act decisively to strengthen their financial system by addressing the problems of institutions that are having trouble, and that they take action to stimulate and grow their economy and grow it not from anyplace but from within based on strong domestic demand in Japan.