The Japanese economy has been picked up and hurled off a cliff. Such a steep decline in GDP over the past two quarters -- a quarter-on-quarter contraction at an annualised rate of 15.6% in the January-March quarter and a 12% annualised quarter-on-quarter decline in September-December 2008 -- is probably unique in the lifetimes of professional observers of any major economy.No country within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has suffered such a fall in key economic values as Japan. Over the course of this latest decline, industrial ...