The Japanese Postal Savings System: A State-Run Financial Monster?

Japan maintains the highest personal savings rate of all the major industrialized countries. In 1982 the Japanese personal savings rate was about 19.3 percent of disposable income-almost three times that of the United States. Many analysts consider the thrift of the Japanese people to be the primary reason for that country’s tremendous industrial growth and technological advancement after World War II. Through the postal savings system (PSS),the Japanese government has converted personal savings deposits into long-term capital for industrial, trade, infrastructural, and social development. The state-run PSS has played a vital role in channeling assets to the private sector and in helping to finance the huge government deficits.