As economists debate whether Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can end Japan's long funk, I can't help but wonder if another wealthy, seemingly world-beating economy isn't headed for its own lost decade: Australia.
This mere suggestion will strike many as hyperbolic. The economy Down Under has avoided recession for more than two decades. The government enjoys a fiscal position that inspires envy in Washington and Tokyo. There remain vast resource deposits underground, while new infrastructure is coming online to extract and ship that treasure to China and elsewhere.
Australia's good fortune, however, looks to be waning. Slowing growth in China, driven in part by the government's efforts to rebalance the economy, has devastated commodity prices.