During 1988, the U.S. prime rate (the rate of interest banks charge on loans to their best customers) stood at 9.5% while Japan’s prime rate was about 3.5%. Given that discrepancy, a number of commentators argued that the cost of capital must come down for U.S. business to remain competitive with Japanese companies. What additional information would you need to properly assess this claim? Why might interest rates be lower in Japan than in the U.S.?