June Exports Sustain Upward Momentum But Surplus Employment Rockets

Japan’s June exports fell at the slowest annual pace this year, helping the trade surplus widen for the first time in 20 months. Shipments abroad were down 35.7 percent from a year earlier, following a 40.9 percent in May, according to the Finance Ministry. The surplus widened to 508 billion yen ($5.4 billion).Real exports (adjusted for price change impacts) rose an estimated 8.0% over May (

Daniel Gross on Mellowing Japan

By Claus Vistesen: CopenhagenIn a recent article published in Slate, Daniel Gross gets to the heart of the matter. Essentially, he argues that one of the principal reasons that Japan is not rising is that it has failed to do the homework in the human capital department or as Gross phrases it; while Japan is still leading in engineering, this is not the case with respect to social engineering.

A Kickstart on Japanese Elections?

By Claus Vistesen CopenhagenFor regular observers of Japanese politics (which does not include yours truly) this will be something of a non event. In fact, it has been brewing for more than a while given the rising unpopularity of the ruling LDP and its stifled leadership (a wobbly minister at a G7 meeting springs to mind). However, it is still significant, I think, that the troubled PM Aso and

Deflation Grabs Hold of Japan

By Claus Vistesen: CopenhagenI really don't want to beat a dead horse here and although I already gave it a kick in the context of the release of the May consumer price data I do think that this is pretty significant [quote from Bloomberg with my emphasis]. Japan’s producer prices fell at a record pace in June as oil costs declined and companies required fewer materials amid a global

Long term outlook for the yen

Yen: Safe Haven, But for How Much Longer?"The Yen carry trade is long gone. Now that everybody else has the same "zero interest rate policies" the trade has been unwound. The Japanese economy is absolutely imploding as the fatal flaw in the great export experiment is revealed. No amount of so called "stimulus" at home will make up for evaporating foreign demand, especially after fifteen years of