Levitation speed

JAPAN’S fastest trains run above the tracks, not along them, suspended in the air by magnetic forces. One of these miraculous trains will eventually connect Tokyo and Osaka, cutting over 70 minutes off the journey time. In its ability to speed things up, this “maglev” technology is matched by the magic of macroeconomics. This week the government approved a fiscal-stimulus plan to revive Japan’s economy that will, among other things, cut eight years off the completion time for the Tokyo-Osaka line.