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December 22, 2024
 

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Howard Schneider
Reuters
U.S. think tanks from across the political spectrum have compiled a report to address the nation's social and fiscal issues in an effort to show that compromise is still possible.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 5, 2024
U.S. think tanks' policy 'grand bargain' comes amid deep partisanship
The authors of the outline have no illusions about how their plan will be greeted by the incoming administration of Donald Trump, though.
The Federal Reserve building in Washington. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week he felt that the pre-pandemic years during which the Fed's rate hovered near zero for years and Europe delved into the exotic world of negative rates are gone for good.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 27, 2024
A global hunt for neutral rates to shape world finance costs
Policymakers are exploring whether the rates required to keep inflation in check and economies growing are higher now than the ultra-low ones before the pandemic.
A television station broadcasts U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Chair Jerome Powell speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Aug 24, 2024
Powell's Fed not shy about election-year cuts and ready to defend job market
The Fed chief sent a strong signal that the central bank will start cutting interest rates in mid-September, roughly seven weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas says Japan's inflation is higher than 2% and inflation expectations have started to move toward, or "maybe even a little bit above" the BOJ's 2% target. As a result, the BOJ is normalizing the extremely loose monetary policy it has had for decades.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 24, 2024
IMF sees scope for Bank of Japan to keep raising rates
The BOJ can raise interest rates gradually as heightening inflation expectations leave further scope for normalization, the IMF said.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivers remarks during a press conference following the announcement that the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 13, 2024
Fed leaves rates unchanged and says cuts delayed to possibly December
U.S. policymakers are content to leave rates where they are until the economy sends a clear signal that something else is needed.
U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell during a news conference in Washington on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 3, 2023
Global central banks mark a possible plateau
Policymakers in Frankfurt, London and Washington uniformly say rate cuts won't be on the table until price pressures are truly contained.
The U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 19, 2023
A strike, a shutdown and student loans may cool spending for Fed
Some economists say the resumption of student loan repayments for tens of millions of borrowers may already be reshaping behavior.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 27, 2023
Banking stress puts U.S. and Europe on lookout for credit crunch
Authorities around the world are on high alert for the fallout from recent turmoil at banks following the collapse of U.S lenders SVB and Signature and the rescue takeover of Credit Suisse.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 13, 2023
Silicon Valley Bank collapse puts Fed's faith in a strong, low-risk financial system to the test
The failure of the 16th largest U.S. lender threatens to morph into a systemic shock, undermining confidence in bank deposits and touching off more destabilizing runs.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 13, 2023
After Silicon Valley Bank failure, U.S. acts to shore up confidence in banking system
The move will not lead to losses by American taxpayers and all depositors, including those whose funds exceed the maximum government-insured level, will be made whole.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jan 30, 2023
The 2% target: Central banks' inflation touchstone faces post-pandemic reckoning
By announcing an inflation goal, central bankers feel they build credibility for themselves and focus the planning of households and firms in ways that help keep inflation controlled.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Dec 16, 2022
No turning back: Global central banks vow to stay the course on inflation
It's a set of decisions that will shape the global economy in 2023, influencing exchange rates and terms of trade, and, risking a deeper-than-needed correction if they get it wrong.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2022
Inflation may be peaking, but doubts emerge about its decline
Officials are aligned on the idea that prices are still rising too fast and, increasingly, that solutions will need to be forged beyond monetary policy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 21, 2022
Fed set to hike rates as central banks adopt hawkish stance not seen in decades
The danger, according to former one International Monetary Fund chief economist, is that they collectively go too far, driving the world economy into an unnecessarily harsh contraction.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Jun 19, 2022
Once feted for pandemic heroics, world's central banks face an uneasy crowd
Faith has begun to erode that policymakers will hit their typical 2% inflation targets any time soon — a worrisome development that's begun shaping central banks' own reactions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2022
An oil shock is coming, but U.S. may have already paid for it
U.S. consumers may get gouged at the gas pump but will likely be able to maintain much of their expected spending on other items due to savings accumulated from pandemic spending programs.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Nov 18, 2021
Pandemic debt adds to challenge of funding world's climate goals
Spending by governments kept the world economy afloat during the pandemic, but the resulting pile of debt will leave many nations with vulnerable finances.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 3, 2021
Can Joe Biden re-create the U.S. economy he grew up with?
The Democrat's jobs and infrastructure plan and the corporate tax increase to help pay for it contrasts with the deference to private markets begun by Republicans since 1980.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jun 27, 2020
A quick reopening, a surge in infections and a U.S. recovery at risk
When Texas reopened bars for the U.S.'s Memorial Day weekend last month, cooped-up millennials and Gen Zers took full advantage, flouting social distancing rules to pack clubs and pushing their credit card spending in the next two weeks back to 2019 levels.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 19, 2020
What did eight weeks and $3 trillion buy U.S. in fight against virus?
Many analysts fear the country has at best fought back worst-case outcomes.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.

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