Tag - economy

 
 

ECONOMY

High construction costs due to rising material and labor costs continue to push up sales prices of new condominiums.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 22, 2024
Tokyo-area condo price hits new high in first half of fiscal 2024
The average price in the area, which includes Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa and Chiba, rose 1.5% from ¥78.36 million a year earlier.
Debt-laden companies in Japan are rapidly growing in number, in some measures even faster than in 1992 after the collapse of its asset price bubble.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2024
Zombie companies may finally succumb to bankruptcy on BOJ hikes
Bankruptcies topped 5,000 cases for the first time in a decade between April and September, a report by Tokyo Shoko Research showed earlier this month.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Fall meetings signage outside the IMF headquarters in Washington on Sunday
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 21, 2024
As poor nations' default wave peaks, a cash shortage could replace it
The issue, and what to do about it when Western countries are increasingly loath to send money overseas, is a key topic at the IMF World Bank autumn meetings this week.
An electric stock board at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, operated by Japan Exchange Group, in Tokyo on April 19
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 21, 2024
Asian IPOs set for blockbuster week as ‘animal spirits’ return
Asian markets are seeing a return of "animal spirits," or changes in market behavior often driven by emotions.
Gantry cranes at the Yantian International Container Terminals in Shenzhen, China, on April 15
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 21, 2024
World economy fault lines shift from prices to politics and debt
The U.S. presidential election, soaring government debt and the escalating conflict in the Middle East all hang over the global economic outlook.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a BRICS business forum in Moscow on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2024
The rise of BRICS and the emerging multipolar world
The diversity among BRICS members presents challenges in forming a unified agenda, especially given differing political systems and goals.
A customer shops for tomatoes at the vegetable section of a supermarket in Beijing on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 18, 2024
China's third-quarter GDP hits weakest pace since early 2023
Authorities have sharply ramped up policy stimulus, but markets are waiting for a clearer road map to put the economy back on a solid longer-term footing.
Japan's core inflation slowed in September due to the rollout of energy subsidies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 18, 2024
Japan’s inflation slows for first time since April
The slowdown in price gains largely hangs on government subsidies.
China has shifted the economic narrative. The country's rapid growth and production under a repressive regime challenges the idea that good institutions are necessary for wealth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2024
Beijing’s success is a conundrum for Nobel winners
China has shifted the economic narrative. The country's rapid growth under a repressive regime challenges the idea that good institutions are necessary for wealth.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda can point to Washington all he wants, but his inability to settle on a consistent message is part of what ails his nation's currency.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 18, 2024
The yen pays the price for a timid Bank of Japan
Ueda can point to Washington all he wants, but his inability to settle on a consistent message is part of what ails his nation's currency.
The Bank of Japan’s historic shift this year from radical monetary easing to two interest-rate hikes has sparked volatility in the nation’s securities market as investors speculate on the BOJ’s next move.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 17, 2024
Japan Post Insurance markets chief sees Nikkei setting new records after votes
The Nikkei's all-time high, set in July, will probably be "just a passing point,” said Kenichi Kuga, head of global equity and fixed income investment.
Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2024
Big wage increase sought by Japan’s largest union slightly underwhelms
For the 2025 spring wage negotiations, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation is aiming for a wage hike of "over 5%," the same goal as this year.
Exports declined 1.7% from a year ago, led by cars, mineral fuels and construction machinery and slipping to negative growth for the first time since November last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 17, 2024
Japan’s exports fall most since 2021 amid global slowdown
Exports declined 1.7% from a year ago, led by cars, mineral fuels and construction machinery.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba greets voters in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, on Tuesday, as campaigning for the Oct. 27 Lower House election kicked off.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 17, 2024
Parties pledge household support without debates on funding
Almost all the parties made pledges to raise the minimum wage.
With a significant need for renewable energy investment in developing countries, China can help drive the adoption of global green infrastructure and technology. 
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2024
China’s overcapacity can help transition the world
A collaborative effort between the U.S. and China on clean energy initiatives could significantly accelerate the global transition to green technologies.
The Champayan Lagoon in Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico. A new report finds that nearly 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are in areas experiencing a worsening water shortage.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 17, 2024
Water crisis endangers 8% of GDP in high-income countries, report warns
The report finds that nearly 3 billion people and more than half of the world’s food production are in areas experiencing a worsening water shortage.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 16, 2024
Bank of Japan policymaker calls for 'very moderate' pace of rate hikes
There are doubts about whether Japanese firms will keep sufficiently raising wages next year due to lingering global risks.
Tokyo Metro priced its shares at ¥1,200 apiece. It is expected to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Oct. 23.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2024
Tokyo Metro raises $2.3 bln in Japan's biggest IPO in 6 years
The subway operator priced its shares at the top of its provisional range of ¥1,100 to ¥1,200, a regulatory filing from the company showed on Tuesday.
The prospect of the yen's further depreciation is prompting strategists to warn of increased intervention risk near the ¥150 level, or the 200-day moving average of ¥151.25.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 15, 2024
Intervention back on investors’ radars as yen weakens against dollar
The yen had its worst loss against the dollar since 2009 in the five days through Oct. 4.
With projections indicating a population drop in Japan from around 125 million to 63 million by 2100, traditional solutions like immigration and labor reforms are unlikely to be effective in time.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2024
Japan should master, not resist, its demographic destiny
Japan needs a strategic reorientation toward accepting and mastering its demographic changes rather than resisting them.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan