LONDON — "Japan has lost its place in world, no longer serious economic power."

So read the subhead of a recent article by a Japanese professor and former journalist in a reputable Japanese economic journal. The professor declared that "this stark reality, which many Japanese appear not to have noticed, is the consequence of two lost decades."

If this statement is designed to provoke self-reflection and reform, well and good, but I cannot agree that Japan is no longer a serious economic power.