by Anil Kashyap and Takeo Hoshi
Freakonomics Blog; March 22nd, 2011
On March 11, an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 hit the Pacific coast side of the Tohoku area in Japan. Subsequent aftershocks, tsunamis and breached safety mechanisms at nuclear plants in Fukushima have proven even more devastating than the earthquake itself.
At this point, it is too early to have a clear idea of what this disaster implies for the Japanese economy and for the rest of the world. But because we have studied many aspects of the Japanese economy, we have been besieged with questions about the economic effects of this tragedy. Here is our attempt to come up with preliminary answers for some of the most frequently asked questions.
