Tag - us-economy

 
 

US ECONOMY

COMMENTARY / World
Mar 24, 2014
An economy resilient to political dysfunction
Recent analysis shows there is little correlation between America's highly publicized political dysfunction and its relative economic performance in serveral dimensions.
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2014
Rising land prices in big cities
For 2013, the megalopolises of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka showed rises in both residential and commercial land prices for the first time in six years.
COMMENTARY
Mar 20, 2014
Recent stimulus setting up debt crisis for China
The idea that China acted in economically rational ways that merit U.S. study and replication, as suggested by two Chinese economists, is just too much. Asia's biggest economy is merely delaying a debt crisis that will be much bigger and more spectacular than it had to be.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2014
Asia's tourism campaigns could benefit from a little cleaning up
As Asia welcomes more and more visitors, its leaders and policymakers must take steps toward a more sustainable tourism industry and supporting infrastructure. That includes cleaning up the beaches.
EDITORIALS
Mar 14, 2014
Will pay hikes become a trend?
The pay raises offered by leading Japanese firms this week are an encouraging sign that some companies, at least, are translating better corporate earnings posted the past year into higher wages for workers — thanks partly to unusual government pressures put on management.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 6, 2014
Japan's top chefs grapple with sustainable eating
After the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in Singapore last month, chef Yoshihiro Narisawa was in high spirits, despite the late hour and the tropical February heat. His Tokyo restaurant, the eponymous Narisawa in the Aoyama district, had been named Best Restaurant in Japan for the second...
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2014
Base salaries up for first time in 22 months in January
Salaries increased for the first time in nearly two years in January as companies boosted pay for part-timers, aiding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's effort to end 15 years of deflation.
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2014
Taxing adjustments ahead
With the consumption tax hike set to rise in less than a month, the government must make sure the hike doesn't lead to unfair transaction practices between large firms and their subcontractors and suppliers.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2014
China fights dragon of credit-allocation reform
China needs to reforming the credit-allocation mechanism to provide more capital to well-performing projects and enforce hard budget constraints on poor-performing borrowers.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 28, 2014
Problems with 'Abenomics'
The economic recovery we see in Japan now is almost entirely due to the massive 30 percent depreciation of the yen. We are back to the 'structural reform' vicious circle of the Koizumi years.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2014
Olympic fanfare can't hide Russia's ills
Behind the swagger after the Winter Olympics lie serious doubts about Russia's future. Long-term price trends for the mineral resources upon which the economy depends, together with Russia's history, suggest that President Vladimir Putin's luck may well be about to run out.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 17, 2014
GDP growth sags below forecasts
Japan's economy grew at a feeble annualized rate of 1 percent in the October-December quarter, underscoring risks to the recovery, a preliminary report says.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014
Reviving China's economic rebalancing act
As China remains among the world's poorest countries, with per capita income amounting to less than $7,000, its position as the world's largest exporter of capital signifies a gross misallocation of resources. It should adopt a float exchange-rate regime as soon as possible.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Feb 7, 2014
Financial market volatility may hurt economy
Recent financial market volatility, triggered by a widespread selloff in emerging currencies, has started to raise concerns over the economy despite it having shown signs of overcoming nearly two decades of deflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 7, 2014
Key index rises on rosy profits
The key index of indicators designed to show the current state of the economy rose in December to its highest level in more than five years as companies boosted production and tried to increase employment as their profits recovered, the government said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 31, 2014
Help households, not corporations
Lowering corporate taxes, as the Abe administration wants to do, will invite criticism that Japan's businesses are being cosseted at the expense of tax relief for households.
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2014
Wage hikes can help end deflation
This year's wage negotiations have started, and for the first time in five years, Japan's largest labor organization will demand across-the-board raises in wage bases. The Japan Business Federation concurs but in more evasive language.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 25, 2014
Is altruism our hope, and growth a curse?
My day job is at Chuo University in western Tokyo, and January at Japanese universities is chaotic, what with final classes, reports and grading as our second term comes to an end and the academic year winds down toward its conclusion in March. Among the words that come to mind, "happiness" is not usually...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2014
Making sense of China's economic growth model
Although China's economy has expanded at a staggering pace over the last three decades, its growth model is now widely agreed to be exhausted. Many economists endorse a shift to consumption-driven growth propelled by gains in efficiciency.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 17, 2014
A vision for Japan's future
Thanks to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 'Abenomics' initiative for national economic recovery, Japan's economy as well as its currency and stock markets started the New Year on a positive note for the first time in a long while.

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'