Japanese Wages

Well adding more fuel to the fire on my post yesterday, wages data release today say that monthly wages in Japan, including overtime and bonuses, fell (0.7) for the fifth consecutive month in April (as compared with a year earlier):Japan's wages unexpectedly fell for a fifth month, hampering a recovery in consumer spending that's being fueled by job growth.Monthly wages, including overtime and

Time For The BoJ To Move?

by Claus VistesenIt has been a while since I have last reported on Japan and I even manged to slip on the Q1 GDP figures which showed in unconventional fashion how consumer spending acted as a cushion for declining industrial production. As such, here is a short note which should bring you up to date with the latest ... On the Q1 GDP figures they should of course to be taken with a pinch of salt

Employment in Japan: Theory and Practice

Well unemployment in Japan has fallen yet one more time (and here in Bloomberg). Now there is nothing really surprising about this, since Japan's economic expansion is continuing (albeit driven by exports rather than by domestic consumption) and the population of working age is declining, so there is evidently a "capacity" problem here (although it would perhaps be interesting to ask in the light

Japanese foreign direct investment in other countries

An IMF study titled "Japanese Foreign Direct Investment and Regional Trade" details Japan's investment abroad since the early 1980's. The most noticeable fact that the study turns up is that 'outflows have exceeded inflows by more than a factor of 10"...I think that is at least in part attributable to the closed nature of Japan's economy which has only recently begun to open up to foreign

The IMF in Japan

The FT today has an interesting article about the opinions of the IMF delegation which is currently in Japan. These opinions seem to be much more reasoned than much of the current consensus opinion which is emanating from the G7 or the Economist (for example) and especially in connection to the deflation problem and the issues it presents. According to John Lipsky (IMF First Deputy Managing

Dis-saving in Japan: a logical consequence of an aging population

The above chart is courtesy of Claus at Alpha.Sources blog, and bears close examination. You see that household income has experienced negative growth since about 1997 and household savings has been shrinking since the turn of the century. I believe this data is consistent with an increasing proportion of retirees to the Japanese population as a whole; as once the breadwinner retires income

Japan's space program: an opportunity for growth?

by Scott PetersonIt seems to me that a sector that Japan could be a solid competitor globally would be in the commercial launch business. Basd on my cursory scan of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's page on it's H-IIA-primary large-scale launch vehicle, the vehicle could be competitivewith other commercial launch ventures, such as International Launch Services and Sea-Launch.In addition,

The Bank of Japan's decision and the underlying data

The BoJ decided not to change the overnight rate, which was not a surprise. However data that was released in the same time frame is concerning. GDP data was released which showed that annualized Q1 GDP growth of 2.4%, was a sharp sequential decline from a revised 5.0% (previously 5.5%). SeekingAlpha quotes a Tokyo analyst to the effect that "the BoJ will hold at 0.5% over the next three to six

Another high-value export possibility for Japanese manufacturers

Financial Times Deutschland posted a report recently that describes how "China's introduction of locally assembled Japanese "bullet trains" shows that the country has completed the transfer of foreign world-class high-speed rail technology, Beijing's Ministry of Railways has claimed. Lightly modified versions of Japan's E2-1000 Shinkansen went into service on lines around Shanghai recently but

Potential new export market for Japanese manufacturers

According to Aviation Today, "Boeing’s jetliner product rejuvenation coupled with Lockheed Martin’s F-35 and broad U.S. defense export market dominance means expansion of the United States’ share of the industry, and with it dominance in leading edge technologies in such areas as avionics."The military aircraft sector seems like a logical business for a large Japanese conglomerate to invest in.

Exports and Mayonaise in Japan

By Claus Vistesen(cross-post from Alpha.Sources)Many things can be learned from the recent report on Japan's trade surplus which saw a whopping increase on 36.9% y-o-y in March. Japan's current account surplus widened to a record in March, as exports to Asia and Europe helped counter slower growth in shipments to the U.S. The surplus expanded 36.9 percent to 3.32 trillion yen ($28

The state of the Japanese stock market

by Scott PetersonCarl T. Delfeld over at SeekingAlpha asks "Is Japan's Stock Market on a Downward Spiral?"...he points out a couple of facts that I hadn't noticed before:-"Having comprised a third of global market capitalization in 1990, Japan's market capitalization is now less than one tenth that of the world's $49,900 bn"...-"Michiyo Nakamoto of the Financial Times goes on to say that in a

Likely Effects of Interest Rate Hike by the Bank of Japan

by Scott PetersonThe Economist describes how "a few brave economists believe, to the contrary, that higher interest rates would actually encourage (Japanese)households to spend more, not less."I thought the most interesting piece of information from that story was the fact that personal savings rates in Japan have actually been falling essentially since the ZIRP was put into place("the sharp fall