Tag - economy

 
 

ECONOMY

Core consumer prices in Japan's capital rose 2.4% in August from a year earlier, accelerating for the fourth straight month and keeping alive market expectations of further interest rate hikes in coming months.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 30, 2024
Inflation accelerates beyond forecasts in Tokyo, boosting case for rate hike
Analysts say the data shows that the real economy and its fundamentals are continuing to recover but at a slow pace.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2024
Japan raises view of economy for first time in 15 months
The Cabinet Office said in its August report that the economy is recovering at a moderate pace, and only parts of it are pausing.
Japanese workers in their 40s and 50s — known as the "lost generation" — saw their wages rise slightly in the second quarter.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 29, 2024
Japan’s 'lost generation' gets a raise, and the economy, a small boost
The pay bump in the second quarter is vitally important to the economy, as consumption by Japanese workers in their 40s and 50s is an important driver of growth.
The government made it mandatory for companies to disclose their gender pay gap in 2022, but disclosure alone isn’t enough to improve the situation, data suggests.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 29, 2024
Disclosure rules fail to narrow Japan’s yawning gender pay gap
There has been little progress toward equality, with the highest-paying firms showing some of the biggest disparities.
Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 28, 2024
BOJ deputy governor sees rate hike justified if outlook realized
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino's comments underscore the central bank's basically unchanged stance following ructions in the financial markets.
There is a significant divide between security experts, who emphasize the unquantifiable risks of geopolitical instability, and economists, who focus on the measurable costs of restructuring supply chains.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2024
Traditional economics fail the geopolitical test
The seemingly yawning gap between the views of the security specialists and the business and economics types is striking.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda "predictably unpredictable" actions and policy shifts highlight the need for improved communication, reflecting modern central banking practices.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 28, 2024
How long can the BOJ get away with rate shocks?
The BOJ’s shifting policies and Kazuo Ueda’s unpredictable approach reflect the need for better alignment with modern central banking practices.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a Lower House committee meeting on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Aug 26, 2024
BOJ shows how action matters more than hawkish signs
In the debate over how central banks can affect market perceptions, the central bank may have gotten it right when in July it raised rates for a second time.
U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2024
Powell’s pivot leaves traders debating size and path of rate cuts
Bond traders are now focusing in on bets over the size of the first U.S. interest rate reduction and the future path of easing.
Robert C. Neff, passed away at after a long illness at 77 years old on July 31, 2024, at his home in Hayama, south of Tokyo.
COMMUNITY
Aug 25, 2024
The American journalist ahead of the game on an ascendant Japan
Neff was part of a golden age of magazine journalism as Tokyo bureau chief for Businessweek magazine and a lover of hot spring retreats.
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.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks during a Lower House hearing on Friday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 23, 2024
Ueda promises better communication as he sticks to the script
Ueda took extra care with his comments to an extraordinary session of parliament called to discuss the market turmoil sparked by the central bank's surprise rate hike.
An AI-driven smartphone application, jointly developed by a tech startup and researchers at Nihon University, purports to tell when cats feel pain. It was being demonstrated during a vet examination in Fujisawa on June 11.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 23, 2024
Japan should go big or go home on startups
As of last month, Japan had just 10 unicorns, according to Pitchbook data, compared to 714 in the U.S., 316 in China and 62 in India.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food climbed 2.7% in July from a year earlier, accelerating slightly from 2.6% in June.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 23, 2024
Japan's core inflation picks up, but demand-driven growth slows
The "core core" index, which is closely watched by the BOJ, dipped below the key 2% line for the first time since September 2022.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is scheduled to respond to questions from lawmakers in parliament on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2024
BOJ governor set to face intense scrutiny after market chaos
Gov. Kazuo Ueda will respond to questions from lawmakers in the Lower House on Friday morning, and those in the Upper House in the afternoon.
The yen's rebound is clouding an outlook for Japanese firms' earnings that have enjoyed a boost from the weak yen.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2024
Yen’s rebound threatens earnings growth in Japan
Weak demand in China and the risk of a slowing U.S. economy are fueling worries about how sustainable their earnings growth will be.
Katsunobu Kato, former health minister, speaks in an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2024
Japan should keep rates and prices moving, prime minister hopeful Kato says
The former health minister is a dark horse but also the type of person who could emerge as a compromise candidate.
Vehicles bound for shipment parked in front of the Lyra Leader vehicles carrier ship at the Nagoya Port in Nagoya. Japan's exports rose in July but shipment volumes extended their declines.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 21, 2024
Japan's July exports growth lags expectations as volumes fall again
Japanese exports rose 10.3% year-on-year in July, less than a median market forecast for an 11.4% increase.
The size of the carry trade strategy is hard to determine because currency transactions, unlike stock trades, aren't tracked on exchanges. We only have estimates.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2024
How big is the yen carry trade, really?
There is now worry that the unwinding of yen-funded carry trades would wreck investors’ frothy exposures to U.S. technology and AI-related companies.
By enabling a few wealthy individuals to wield disproportionate influence, today’s global economy increasingly marginalizes and disenfranchises much of the world’s population.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2024
To preserve democracy, tax the rich
What the world needs are progressive tax systems that redistribute income from the rich to the poor without weakening socially beneficial incentives.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?