Another similarity between Japan’s current crisis and the recent financial crisis is that the false risk assessment was largely due to the asymmetric distribution of social welfare and individual cost implied by more effective risk mitigation. Both Lehman Brothers and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) were able to increase their profits as long as the risk they were willing to accept did not materialize.
当前日本危机与金融危机的另外一个相似点，就是错误的风险评估主要是由社会整体利益和个体成本的不均衡分配所导致的，而这一点在人们试图实施更有效风险缓解措施时显得尤为突出。雷曼兄弟和东京电力公司都在他们愿意承受的风险不出现时增加了盈利。只要不出问题，企业就能日进斗金。但当危机袭来，熔毁所导致的成本却超出了公司的资产总值，结果只能由社会承担。