Japan on track to meet 2% inflation target: Kuroda

Well how about the small to medium sized import companies? I agree with you as to allowing the smaller and medium companies to thrive (over the big corps), but I disagree that the exporters should have a benefit at the expense of other companies and residents living in Japan.

peterpayne and randomman are correct, its the little guys on the front line specially in export who are seeing results first, and will help to lead the economy in the right direction, my own company has taken on new staff and is seeing increased trade lately too.

Workers like Dog who sit behind a desk in a behemoth old style company, old industry will never get to see the benefits in his life time, those companies are just too big, too old, too slow and too mired in their dark dingey ways to be able to manoeuvre and navigate the changing times and economy quickly enough to take advantage of new situations.

I understand where the negativity comes from damn it must be dark in that office lol.

@dog Your little Otaku export warehouse in Gunma is hardly going to change the economic face of Japan.

Actually its that sort of "oyaji" type attitude that has been the demise of Japan. The importance of the provincial small to medium sized company for the true well being of the future of Japan can't be emphasized enough. Being in the Japanese dinosaur steel industry has solidified your views along what you continue to criticize..

Inflation is based mainly on demand, not so much on monetary policy, unless it is extreme. When a product is in demand, such as when there are too few of an item which many people want, the price increases. When there is too much of a product, and few people want it, the price decreases. This is a natural process.

Unfortunately, Japan's economy is far from being able to operate naturally. Japan's economy suffers from many problems, from high tariffs on food, to extreme regulation in some markets, to rampant price-fixing throughout the country. The combination of all these factors has driven the cost of goods quite high. As we all know, Japan is one of the most expensive countries in the world to live in, and the above factors are the main reason why.

The current economic system in Japan is no longer based on simple supply and demand, the prices for most goods are not regulated by the market itself, but by third parties in businesses and government. I nearly wrote the word "third parasites" instead of third parties, but now that I think of it, "parasite" is the more correct term, as these parasites are harming the overall health of the national economy.

The result of these high prices has been to dissuade people from buying goods, and as it costs so much just to take care of one's self, having children is something many Japanese can no longer afford to do, which compounds the problem by decreasing the population. Inflation cannot occur unless there is demand, demand cannot occur unless there are many people who want to buy something, and there cannot be many people who want to buy something when the population is quickly falling.

Good luck Japan,

Peter PayneNov. 26, 2013 - 01:17PM JST

Obviously Japan is an export oriented nation and a lot of these companies will prosper first...are already doing much better. My own company has raised salaries and hired new employees. The improving economy will continue, just not for everyone and at the same rate.

Your little Otaku export warehouse in Gunma is hardly going to change the economic face of Japan.

He would be out of a job if he were to say otherwise.

Japan is slowly shifting its economy from manufacturing to finance. Easy money for politicians and those who are already rich. Have you seen the word NISA plastered all over the place ? Tax free financial products, encouraging the public to invest their savings into financial products like stocks and bonds. What is the entry level investment product for the public ? Mutual funds, which charge fee to buy and keep. Who benefits ? That's right, the finance industry.

Negative comments on JT? The hell you say!

Obviously Japan is an export oriented nation and a lot of these companies will prosper first...are already doing much better. My own company has raised salaries and hired new employees. The improving economy will continue, just not for everyone and at the same rate.

And you know, Japan does have to do something. It was doing nothing for years, decades, that lead to this stagnation.

"I've devalued your salary and savings by 2%". Thanks for that Mr Kuroda.

I've yet to see any sign of this increased income he talks about either. In fact, the monthly labour survey shows wages continuing to fall so he clearly has no idea what he is talking about.

Mr. Kuroda thinks we don't use Google? 2009-2011: negative inflation rates in Japan. 2012: 0% inflation. 2013: positive inflation rates since and including June (no higher than 1% though). Since the BOJ goal is for "average" inflation of 2%, that would require much higher than 2% in the short term to average out. It's still too early to tell at this point, the policy will need time to play out, but it is easy to see that stocks are up, wages are not. The BOJ pats itself on the back. Who are they trying to serve?

This means nothing if the benefits from growth are not shared. But as the statistics show in most countries, neo-liberal economic policy only enriches the few at the expense of the many. It is basic class warfare.

Why doesn't Kuroda talk about the increasing GINI index, which measures the distribution of family income. In Japan it has risen from 24.9 in 1993 to 37.6 in 2008. As a point of reference, more egalitarian Scandinavian countries are around 25 and most Latin American countries are between 50-55. Perfect equality is 0 and complete inequality is 100. The US is 47.