A bubble in the Yen?
Last month, Japanese exports fell 8.1% y/y, far deeper than expected. A 25.1% drop in exports to the EU saw Japan post its worst trade deficit with the region since October 2009. BOA said that the pace...
View ArticleThe Asian tigers are roaring no more
In Korea, Q3 GDP growth slowed to 1.6% y/y from 2.3% in Q2, as corporate spending plunged on gloomy exports. It was the slowest growth since Q3 2009 despite USD12bn of stimulus and 2 cuts in interest...
View ArticleWhy a financialised economy matters
In a recent presentation at the Levy Institute conference held last week in Berlin, Andrew Smithers made the following observations: In the US and UK, management is now paid by bonus and options rather...
View ArticleLet’s cut the crap about Japan’s ‘lost decade’.
If I had a dollar for every scare story about Japan’s ‘lost decade’ (or decades), I would already own a Greek island and be done writing these blogs. The latest example of this genre comes from...
View ArticleA nationalist tidal wave sweeps Japan
The defeat of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is of unprecedented magnitude. It marks the return of a much more nationalistic Liberal Democratic Party which, with 293 of 480 seats in the...
View ArticleThe land of the rising sun becomes the land of the falling Yen?
There are already signs that the more nationalistic configuration of Japan’s new Parliament is going to have an impact on the country’s economic policy, notably in regard to the external value of the...
View ArticleGet ready for a world of global competitive currency devaluations
One can argue that this battle has been going on for years (decades?), but has reached a new phase with the election of the new LDP led Japanese Administration led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe’s...
View ArticleIs everyone getting ready to gang up on Japan?
The European economic data remains mixed, but on balance ex Germany it has been as bad as, and most likely worse than, expected. That largely explains the outburst earlier this week by French President...
View ArticleCan Japan prevent the Yen from becoming a rout?
Japan’s machine tool orders fell 13% in January, nearing levels last seen post the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. One can see why the new government is approaching a stage of near panic in terms of...
View ArticleSlowdown in Asia?
Electricity demand in Japan for February fell 3.8% on the year to 76.1 billion kilowatt-hours, marking the second straight month of decline, according to preliminary data from the nation’s 10 electric...
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