Why Japanese consumers are feeling even worse off than US consumers

I just discovered Japan Economy News & Blog, mentioned by Edward in a previous post, which has a recent post concerning "Increased tax burdens, consumer pessimism, excessively low interest rates, and the BOJ’s June Standard of Living Survey." That is certainly a mouthful; the gist of the article is that "With many households nervous over future prospects, a potential rise in the consumption tax,

June Trade Surplus

Well, Japan's trade surplus powered ahead again in June, up 53.4% from June 2006, according to Bloomberg. Japan's trade surplus surged in June as a weaker yen and higher overseas demand for electronics and cars helped exports rise at the fastest pace in five months.The surplus expanded 53.4 percent to 1.23 trillion yen ($10.2 billion) from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo.

The Eternal Yen Waiting Game?

This is UBS' Jonathan Anderson writing on the Yen (hat tip; RGE's Economonitor) ... This is a well written piece which point to a number of important structural characteristics of the Japanese economy ... the question then becomes, why are we seeing these structural characteristics?Here is Jonathan ...(...)Every one of Japan’s neighbors is strengthening against the dollar ... what will it take to

A Bit of Both from the Domestic Economy

This small snippet is really a recognition of the fine job by Ken Worsley who maintains the Japan Economy and News blog. Between him and JEW you should be able to find top notch economic commentary and coverage on Japan. So what is in store this time? Well, as I have argued before regarding the much hailed August meeting at the BOJ much will depend on the outlook of domestic demand. In fact, I

Price Measurement in Japan

Cross-post from Alpha.SourcesIf you have been following my notes on Japan's economy you might have noticed that the measures of inflation represent something of a maze. Basically, I usually cite three measures of inflation in ny notes on Japan as can be seen from the graph below from one of my recenc posts ... Regarding the official data which comes out of the Japanese statistical office and

Economic consequences of July 16th earthquake

The AP is reporting that "Japanese automakers, including No. 1 Toyota Motor Corp., called production halts Wednesday at factories in Japan because of quake damage at a major parts supplier.The temporary closure of auto parts maker Riken Corp.'s plant at Kashiwazaki city, near the epicenter of Monday's magnitude 6.8 quake, has forced Toyota, Nissan Motor Co. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Fuji Heavy

Upping the Pressure on the BOJ

Well today's economic news continues to pile on the pressure over at the BoJ:Demand for services in Japan unexpectedly fell in May, suggesting waning consumer spending is slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy. The tertiary index, a gauge of money spent on phone calls, dining and shopping, dropped 0.1 percent after climbing a revised 1.6 percent in April, the Trade Ministry said