Doubts Continue About Japanese Consumption

The Japanese Cabinet Office have just released another report on the state of the Japanese economy. Unsurprisingly they one more time draw attention to the lacklustre state of Japanese domestic consumption:the report, which looks at a variety of economic factors besides gross domestic product, warned of weakness in consumer spending, saying sluggish growth in wages was keeping spending

Surplus Widens in Japan

(Cross post from Alpha.Sources)The November data on Japan's trade is out and Bloomberg reports how the surplus has widened on the back of accelerating exports and a low yen. Japan's export growth unexpectedly accelerated in November, easing concern that the expansion of the world's second-largest economy is cooling. Imports slowed, reflecting a decline in oil prices. Exports rose 12.1

Japan: Fiscal Tightening Ahead

Koji Omi, Japan's finance minister, claimed yesterday that the gross domestic product deflator - an important measure of deflation - would turn positive in the year to March 2008 for the first time in a decade:“The GDP deflator for the current fiscal year was minus 0.4 per cent, and that will become plus 0.2 per cent in fiscal 2007/08,” he said. “That shows the economy will become normal.”Not

No Change At The Bank of Japan

Unsurprisingly, the Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged yesterday.The decision was unanimous. . Obviously that now opens the question as to whether they will in fact ever (in the short run I mean) be able to get round to raising. It depends on the external environment, and how much exporting they will be able to do in Q1 2007, I guess. But still they won't be going very far. Bonds rose

Adjusting the Views on Japan?

(Cross-post from Alpha.Sources)In my comments on Japan here at AS I have consistently advocated a rather pessimist discourse on the economy primarily driven by my belief that the economy is in a structural bind with a continuing downward trend in consumer spending regardless of the how well the corporate sector (i.e. the export sector) fairs. In short, I do not see Japan returning to a balanced

Japanese Growth Revisited

This article on the recent downward revision of Japanese growth is a bit old now, but it does contain a few useful points:Japan's economy grew at a far weaker pace in the third quarter than previously reported due to downward revisions in consumer spending and capital investment, the government said Friday, raising concerns about the recovery's strength. Gross domestic product expanded at an

December Tankan Index

Well the latest edition of the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey is now public property, and it does register a marginal increase to 25 from 24 last time. Perhaps just as significantly though the companies surveyed expect the index to decline to 22 next time round, which means that the forward looking component is not overly strong.Perhaps the most noteworthy point in the FT article was this one:"

In(de)flation in Japan?

(Cross post from Alpha.Sources) I actually have a link to this in the post below but I still believe it deserves attention above the fold. On the back of this I would really like to hear anybody arguing the BOJ to raise any time soon.(From Bloomberg) Japanese inflation unexpectedly slowed in October as oil prices dropped, dashing expectations that the central bank will raise the lowest