The Answers, My Friends, are Blown out of Groovy Windows behind your Sleek Desk
In a certain nice moment of your life time and in a tranquil mind with your feet on the desk, you might wonder, as the case may be, what the world is really like.
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Q: What is the total financial wealth in the world?
A: The total financial wealth (excluding real estates) in the world is about 60 trillion dollars, of which 60% is held by the U.S. and 20 % is possessed by Japan. The combined amounts of those held by the U.K., France, and Germany are less than those possessed by Japan.
Q: How much investment does the U.S. receive from abroad every year?
A: The U.S. receives about 530 billion dollars every year from foreign countries including Japan. The U.S. is the world number one receiver of foreign investment.
Q: How much foreign currency exchange reserves does the U.S. have?
A: The U.S. has about 80 billion dollar foreign exchange reserve. Japan has 817 billion dollar foreign exchange reserve (, and China has 471 billion dollar foreign exchange reserve,) as of the middle of 2004.
Q: What country is the largest electricity consumer?
A: The U.S is the number one; far behind are China as No.2 and Japan No.3. As for electricity consumption per capita, Canada is No.1, the U.S. is No.2, Japan No.3, and France No.4.
Q: What country allocates the largest research and development (R&D) budget?
The U.S. spends the largest R&D expenses about 270 billion dollars, Japan spends 140 billion dollars, and Germany as No.3 spends about 50 billion dollars. (No data on China as of 2003.)
Q: What country has the largest number of R&D specialists?
No. 1 is the U.S. with 1.1 million researchers and sceinentists, No.2 Russia with one million experts, No.3 Japan with just les than one million experts, No.4 China with 0.9 millions, and No.5 is Germany with 0.5 millions.
Q: What country has the largest patent applications per year?
Japan is No. 1 country with 490,000 applications filed per year; the U.S. is No. 2 with less than 350,000 applications; and Germany is No.3 with more than 250,000.
Q: What country has the largest export value in technology trade?
The U.S. is No. 1 with almost 16 billion dollars, the U.K. is No. 2 with almost 8 billion dollars, and Japan No. 3 with just short of 6 billion dollars. They are the big three in this critical field.
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These are only part of selections by a Japanese scientific journalist, Yoshiyuki Matsuo. Especially he points out that forests and mountains account for 65 percent of the total land of Japan; this ratio is almost equal to that of Sweden, Finland, or Brazil. The beauty of the landscape of Japan is priceless. The value of Mt. Fuji cannot be included in Japan’s GDP, but the mountain itself surpasses the gross domestic product in terms of intangible value, according to the author of “Numbers on Japan (Nihon no Suji).”
Japan’s civilization is for beauty, while that of other countries is for triumph.
Even Americans hate ugliness in human relationships, if it exists; Japanese are sometimes fatally hurt and thus refuse even to comment on them, or would treat them with sheer contempt.
When Japanese find true ugliness in the world of wealth, something might change, though you cannot expect such a drastic scenario with the U.S and other countries despite so many people of holy scriptures therein.
“THEY WILL PLACE THEIR HANDS ON SICK PEOPLE, AND THESE WILL GET WELL”