韓國可能很快就會比日本富有

THE Tokyo Sky Tree, a broadcasting and observation tower that will officially open on May 22nd, is 634 metres high (2,080 feet), making it the tallest building in Asia. Is this Japan's last bid to stay on top? For years, Japan was Asia's richest and Most powerful economy. It was the first Asian economy to industrialise, and the emerging Asian tigers—Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and later China—merely followed in its tracks. Now, however, Japan is steadily being overtaken.

作爲廣播傳送和觀光塔的東京天空樹將於4月22日正式開放，634米（2,080英尺）的高度使它成爲亞洲最高的建築。這是日本試圖保持領先的最後一搏麼？很多年來，日本曾擁有亞洲最富有和最強勁的經濟。它是第一個工業化的亞洲經濟體，新興的亞洲四小龍——香港，新加坡，南韓，臺灣和最近的中國大陸——僅僅是追隨它的足跡。不過，現在日本正在被穩步的超越。

China's economy is now bigger than Japan's, but less noticed is the fact that Asia's so-called newly industrialised economies (NIEs) are, one by one, becoming richer than Japan. Most economists reckon that the best way to compare living standards is to take GDP per person measured at purchasing-power parity (PPP), which adjusts for differences in the cost of living in each country. On this gauge, Japan was overtaken by Singapore in 1993, by Hong Kong in 1997 and by Taiwan in 2010. But the most humbling re-ranking will be when South Korea becomes richer than Japan. The latest forecasts from the IMF suggest that this could happen within five years (see chart). That would be a remarkable turnabout. In 1980 South Korea's GDP per person was barely a quarter the level of Japan's.

現在中國的經濟規模大於日本，但是很少被提及的事實是亞洲所謂的新型工業化經濟體（NIEs）一個接一個的變得比日本富有。大部分經濟學家認爲最好的比較生活水平的方法是用人均GDP測算平價購買力（PPP），其可以調整生活在每一個國家所需的不同費用。按照這個標準，日本在1993年被新加坡超越，1997年被香港超越，並在2010年被臺灣超越。不過最令人羞愧的重新排名將會是南韓變得比日本富有。來自IMF的最新預測暗示這將在五年內發生（參見圖表）。那將會是一個標誌性的轉變。在1980年南韓的人均GDP僅僅只有日本四分之一的水平。

Calculated at market exchange rates, Japan's per-head income is still higher than all the NIEs except Singapore. Yet Japan's high prices, especially for housing and food, bring down the country's true standard of living. PPPs are tricky to calculate and economists come up with different numbers, so the IMF's figures are contentious. Some other yardsticks, such as car-ownership rates, still suggest that Japan has a comfortable lead over South Korea. But the trend is clear: the tigers are outpacing their teacher.

按市場匯率計算，日本是人均收入仍然比除新加坡以外的所有新興工業化經濟體高。不過日本的高物價，尤其是房價和食物支出，拉低了日本的真實生活水平。由於平價購買力的難以計算和經濟學家意見的不同，IMF的數字是有爭議的。另外一些指標，例如私家車擁有率，仍然表明日本仍然大幅領先南韓。不過趨勢是明顯的：學生們正在超越他們的老師。