An assembly line worker puts a battery, seen right under the body, to a Nissan Motor Co.’s electric vehicle Leaf at the Japanese automaker’s Oppama plant in Yokosuka near Tokyo. Nissan resumed auto and parts production at more Japanese factories last week, but it may be several months before inventories and other elements of the country’s auto industry return to normal.(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, file)By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON – The Japanese economy has been staggered by an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear crisis. But history suggests it will bounce back with no lasting damage.
Wealthier countries with stable government institutions are especially suited to benefit from reconstruction after a natural disaster. So are countries with vast international trade and those that can easily raise money.
Japan falls into all those categories. Its own Kobe area recovered unusually quickly from a 1995 earthquake, for example. And researchers say the May 2008 quake in the Sichuan province of China led to stronger growth that same year.