William Pesek is an award-winning Tokyo-based journalist and author of "Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades."
Recent data show even consumers who have enough money are not spending it

A giant screen shows news footage of Chinese President Xi Jinping attending the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on July 18. © Reuters
William Pesek is an award-winning Tokyo-based journalist and author of "Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades."