In the wake of the tragedy in Japan

The Wall Street journal is reporting on what they do best, finance.  The link to the article is below.

As the waters from the tsunami recede, Japan will face a massive rebuilding effort.  New home construction, rebuilding airports and factories, providing for families who lost their primary wage earner.  The need to borrow ‘cheap’ money will be very important for the citizens of Japan.

Unfortunately, with Japan being so deeply in debt, it is unclear as to whether the country will be able to secure the cheap financing it needs to rebuild.

“The problem facing the government is that Japan’s debt burden is already the worst in the industrialized world, at nearly 200% of annual economic output.” – writes William Sposato.  With such brutal debt loads, it will be hard for foreign countries to invest in the rebuilding process.

Hopefully we can count on the US to step up and help subsidize emergency financing to the country of Japan.

Read the entire article here.