Tag - spending

 
 

SPENDING

EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2014
'Abenomics' after the tax hike
Uncertainties are deepening with regard to the course of Japan's economy after the three-percentage-point sales tax hike takes effect in April. Meanwhile, 'Abenomics' appears to be losing steam.
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2014
No need to break the budget
Consumers would be wise to resist the urge to break their household budget with high-end purchases before the sales tax rises by three percentage points April 1. That's because manufacturers are likely to remain as keen as ever to keep their prices competitive after the tax hike.
EDITORIALS
Mar 6, 2014
Trimming U.S. military spending
The headline-grabbing cuts in America's 2015 fiscal budget, unveiled by President Barack Obama this week, involve the downsizing of the U.S. military. The plans are controversial in light of recent events on the Crimean Peninsula and the so-called rebalance of U.S. forces to the Asia-Pacific region.
EDITORIALS
Feb 19, 2014
Data highlights fragility of recovery
The uptick in Japanese consumer spending in the fourth quarter of 2013 should be regarded as a result of the rush to make purchases before the consumption tax rises from 5 to 8 percent, beginning in April, rather than as an optimistic sign of economic recovery.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2014
Toyota cash mountain draws calls for plants
Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, whose company has accumulated a cash pile of almost ¥4 trillion, is facing calls to put that money to better use.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jan 3, 2014
Economy faces headwinds in 2014
The first stage of the sales tax hike next April will likely put a major drag on growth this year, although the nation will avert an outright recession, economists say.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2013
The revival of a Great Depression-era retread
Paul Krugman and other economists now advocate the kinds of things Keynesians typically promote to stabilize the economy during a recession to become a permanent part of the U.S. fiscal architecture.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 17, 2013
Machinery orders jump 14.2%, sharpest since '05
Core private-sector machinery orders jumped a seasonally adjusted 14.2 percent in March, indicating the weaker yen and higher stocks are starting to prompt companies to boost investment, the government said Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 21, 2013
Proposed inheritance tax exemption isn't really about inheritance taxes
Will old folks encouraged to think of their grandkids' education loosen their grip on unproductive savings?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 19, 2012
New stats about old folks
Some new numbers about elderly household income and spending.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2011
Japan at critical tipping point
Japanese trains run to the minute, and the country's businesses pride themselves on energy-efficiency. The Japanese boast of their eco-services for eco-products in eco-cities. Yet they rely primarily on imported fossil fuel and nuclear power, live in energy-wasteful homes, and import 60 percent of their...

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’