An Orderly Withdrawal?

On one version of events the Bank of Japan is simply dotting the 'i's and crossing the 't's on it road map to exit the massive monetary easing process sometime during the next six months. On another the road itself is fraught with difficulty, and an overly 'inflation wary' central bank might risk upsetting the whole apple cart if it proceeds to rapidly. It is this tension which seems to be

Japan Continues To Grow

I think there is a pretty fair and balanced assessment of the current Japan situation by David Turner in today's FT. He makes the following points:1/. Japan’s economy continued to grow slowly but surely in the third quarter, supported by heavy investment by companies and moderate growth in consumer spending.2/. The world’s second largest economy was expanding despite a negative contribution from

Don't Speak To Soon

Don't Speak To SoonI have been arguing continuously for some months now that Japan might not escape the deflation trap so easily as some seem to imagine. Today there are two pieces of news which should at least give the 'optimists' some pause for thought.Firstly the news that Japan's economy most likely slowed in the third quarter, with one of the principal explanations being the lack of dynamism

The BoJ is Convinced

The entire nine-member board of the Bank of Japan is convinced that deflation in Japan will be over by the end of this year: I only wish I was. Minutes of the bank's board meeting earlier this month show board members expect year-on-year changes in consumer prices to be zero or to rise slightly at the end of the year.In recent weeks, senior members of the BoJ, including governor Toshihiko Fukui,

Happy birthday Japan

Happy birthday Japan, welcome to year one of your new era. December 31st will mark the first anniversary of when your population actually started to fall, and from now on each year will see less and less Japanese citizens in the land of the setting sun. Another way of putting this would be that the proportion of robots to people is definitely set to rise there.This turning point in human history

This is my Day-to-Day Weblog on the Japanese Economy. For More Detailed In-Depth Commentary, Analysis and Links on Japan's Continuing Economic Crisis See the Japan Page on My Website

Japan's Job-Loss 'Recovery'


I'v made myself a promise to try and look a bit more at Japan this week, since I'm sure I've been neglecting things there. This piece serves to kill two birds with one stone, since it also relates to the ongoing 'structural reforms' theme. I think the argument demonstrates two things: that job creation is getting harder everywhere, and that the Asia Times (following