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,