Multi-tasking vision of a bleak or bright future

Japan's lost decade and economic collapse in the 1990s and 2000s is well documented (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Decade_(Japan)). Some have wondered whether or not we in Europe (and the US for that matter) are headed for a similar fate following the 2008 crash in the western world. Thankfully some say no, check out http://www.slideshare.net/IndraPratama6/japan-lost-decade-vs-us-ez which gives a good summary of the differences, on the other hand some such as Paul Krugman say that the Japanese policy response is potentially much more effective than our own; http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/is-japan-the-country-of-the-future-again/. All I know is whilst riding my bike this afternoon in my garage, at the same time as looking after the sleeping babes, I started to thumb threw a few back editions of the Economist. I stumbled across this article from September... http://www.economist.com/node/21563765. All I say is that wherever we end up, I hope and pray I'm never asking Sandie for my pocket money to go out drinking.