How does the earthquake in Japan affect the world social problems?

[Robinette]

Just as the question says....

What are some of the social problems that are brought forward (THROUGHOUT THE WORLD) and ALSO, (IN JAPAN), now that the earthquake has taken place. Why are these problems?

[Midnightshape208]

Social problems are not the main worry, the far bigger problem is what will happen to world financial markets if the Japanese crisis brings down the US economy in a massive financial collapse.

Japan holds almost one-quarter of all US debt, and with the crisis I Japan it will likely sell off its US bond holding and not buy any more for the foreseeable future. This will cause a financial disaster in the US.

If the US government cannot raise money to fuel its massive debt, then it will resort to the printing press to monetize the debt. In any case, Americans will see the value of the dollar plummet to near worthlessness, interest rates shoot up to levels that require a long string of zeroes to express (such as 100,000,000,000,000,000% annual inflation rate), prices could double every few hours, and the US government will collapse.

[Dave B]

The answer to this is not in the financial markets, it is in the reaction to the crisis both locally and internationally.

Arguing that the US currency will go down like a domino is like suggesting the tail wags the dog. While there is a currency linkage in the international marketplace, the g7 just last week acted to contain rise of the yen as the yen supply gets spent on containment and insurance payouts, as well as disaster aid. The effect is too small to have a real effect on the dollar.

What will have an effect is new regulation on nuclear energy production, and more attention will be paid to earthquake prone areas and tidal wave vulnerability. These will all raise energy prices and costs of building in seismically active areas. While costly in the short run, it is an investment that will decrease the damage, and therefore the financial risk, of insuring structures in those areas, or will lead to a capping of liability in insurance policies. Either of those outcomes is desirable in the long haul.

[aona]

It is mentioning that at the time that Japan starts full recovery stage, the country will need to double its oil demand to expedite the development of economic activities that have been most affected by the earthquake, tsunami and radiation nuclear plant.

This situation may create a rise in the price of oil, affecting other countries in this regard. Would affect the economies and their aftermath in the population is already known. High cost of living, possible increases in certain services and so on.

However, you can not say with certainty how would affect other countries and if so, by how much. For now, it makes sense to wait, remember that we are not alone and the governments have learned to handle these situations without trauma to the population. Ok