Japan Consumption Falls as Output Accelerates

Here's the latest bit of news from Japan:Japan's factory production rose to a record, while household spending fell, underscoring the central bank's concern that growth has bypassed consumers and left the economy dependent on exports to expand.Industrial production climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent in December, the trade ministry said in Tokyo today. Household spending declined for a 12th

Japanese Labour Market Conditions

Following on from my last post about the continuing Japanese consumption decline, I have put a somewhat larger post up on Afoe, trying to link this in with the latest figures for declining retail sales in Germany. This piece from the FT which in general simply confirms the overall picture, does contain a useful perspective on how the dynamics of intergenerational transition may be also affecting

Japan's Economy: Chasing Illusions?

(Cross-post from Global Economy Matters)What happened in Japan this week obviously came as something of a surprise for many a financial commentator and analyst; over at Morgan Stanley's GEF Takehiro Sato even felt the need to apologize to GEF's readers for erroneously making the call that the BOJ would raise interest rates this month. He has not been alone in this, however, and last Monday

Japan's Economy: Chasing Illusions?

by Claus VistesenWhat happened in Japan this week obviously came as something of a surprise for many a financial commentator and analyst; over at Morgan Stanley's GEF Takehiro Sato even felt the need to apologize to GEF's readers for erroneously making the call that the BOJ would raise interest rates this month. He has not been alone in this, however, and last Monday Bloomberg reported that 76%

Steady as She Goes?

(Cross-post from Alpha.Sources)Thursday has arrived and so has the BOJ's decision to hold as well. In terms of the general market expectations this is quite surprising since most major analysts predicted at the end of 2006 that the BOJ would raise rates in 2007 starting off with a raise in January. This has not been the case and now of course questions are mounting on the real state of the

Faceoff in Japan

(Cross-post from Alpha.Sources)If you thought in the beginning of this week that a raise by the BOJ come tomorrow was a sure bet you should perhaps think about revising your views. The situation in Japan is a difficult one; ever since the BOJ ended its ZIRP policy back in June 2006 markets have more or less been expecting the transition towards a normalization process where the BOJ would be able

Japan in a Quandry

To raise or not to raise, that is the question, for the BoJ at least. This seems to be just one more between a rock and a hard place situation. According to Bloomberg:The Bank of Japan may raise its benchmark lending rate from 0.25 percent, stepping up efforts to head off an investment bubble.The reason for the fear is not a sudden and excessive rise in consumer related activity (like

Machine Orders Reinforce a Hike by the BOJ ...

(Cross-post from Alpha.Sources) or do they? If you ask the investors, of which most admittedly live in a quite different short term world than myself, a firm 76% according to Bloomberg believe that the BOJ will raise the rate this Thursday which will bring the rate up to 0.50% from the current 0.25% as it has been held ever since the BOJ ended ZIRP back in June 2006. (From Bloomberg linked above)

To Raise or not to Raise ...

(Cross-post from Alpha.Sources)This still seems to be the most vexing question concerning the Japanese economy at the moment. In terms of economic data going out of 2006 the news flow has been anything but positive thus raising serious question about the BOJ's strategy of returning to normal or at least moving further away from its quantitative easing policy operationalized as ZIRP which was