A couple additional points of differentiation: US has no national savings and runs a trade deficit. So the US is entering a credit contraction in a worse fiscal condition than Japan.

Also, is shrinking population really a bad thing? We live in a world with finite resources, so either we effectively manage our population down to a sustainable level or mother nature does it for us.

I’d say Japan has been quite successful at managing its population decline. It has low unemployment and one of the highest standards of living in the world. Perhaps Japan can serve as a model for the rest of the world.