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Japan suffers longest consumer price fall since 2011

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@fxgai

Recovering from the asset bubble burst, still...

wasn't that, like, 25 years ago or something? What a weird fantasy world these people live in. Recovery! What a laugh!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Japan's manufacturers have all made their homes in China where production costs are far lower. Workers don't have any disposable income in Japan as taxes just keep on rising Japan has a low way to fall yet.....

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Recovering from the asset bubble burst, still...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

“The reason behind the slow pace of price rises is because the economic recovery is very slow.” What recovery? Recovery from what?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The bottom line below that is that consumer purchasing power can only increase when real wages increase,

In a deflationary environment the consumer's purchasing power does increase, even in the absence of wage increases. With Japanese companies overstaffed, inefficiency run, and selling to a shrinking pool of domestic consumers (which make up the majority of their customers), real wages are not going to increase.

When deflation brings down prices to what the economy can bear (along with bringing down Japan's "zombie banks" and "zombie companies," and perhaps Japan'z "zombie government" as well), then prices will stabilize, and growth will return.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

with a cratering population there's no rational for a growth based economy that has jumped the shark, the sine wave, the parabola etc etc. Japan will need to either develop tools that restore value or watch value crater as well

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Bottom line it's all about consumers purchasing power.

The bottom line below that is that consumer purchasing power can only increase when real wages increase, and that will only be when people are more Productive, at a minimum.

Abe thinks that if prices and wages both go up everything will be smashing for the little people, but inflation rising 2% each year has the same effect as a 2% consumption tax rate increase each year. Us little people all know that the "inflation is good" propaganda is nonsense.

To Make Japan Great Again this country needs real economic growth - put some more P into GDP!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Funny that the article colors this as a bad thing. Lower prices are what happens when things are overpriced to begin with. And with things overpriced, people have had to work longer, and not have the time or money to raise children, causing the population to fall, consumption to fall, and prices to fall.

The only people alarmed by the fall in prices are large debtors, like the Japanese government (and much of Japan Inc), which sees the value of it's debt increase as deflation increases the strength of the currency.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

I never buy what I do not need and I got a lot of cash. Time to start donating it.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

This is related to the recent pension bill passed. If the J-govt. can get inflation going, they no longer have to raise the pension COL payments by as much (and that even considers that their inflation index understates real inflation).

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Most of my Japanese colleagues try to avoid spending and try to save their money. Very few people attend the company nomikai these days because they don't want to spend the money. Many in my office try to spend less than 1000 yen a day. No one goes out for lunch and everyone stays at their desk and eats cup ramen. The economic situation has to improve.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Quote: "The BoJ hoped that consumers would spend more if prices were rising, persuading firms to expand operations and getting the economy humming." I am also baffled. Why would you spend money when prices are rising? What we have seen is the opposite, as would be natural. Watch your yen and wait for bargains. Bargains are a natural reaction to inflation and consequent conservative spending. That is because stuff piles up. Either you sell less stuff of less, hoping to eventually get ride of the the surplus, or you sell more for less in the hope it will not be outdated or rot. Inflation is in a roundabout way the mother of deflation.

The truth is that Abe does not know what he is doing. That should have been apparent for years.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

These stories read like they're written by the Abe's staff and faxed to the news organizations. Since when is deflation a "spiral" and inflation not a "spiral?"

Deflation is the market doing what its supposed to do, striving to for freedom against an economy trapped by bureaucrats thinking they can exert central control like flying a drone.

That didn't work and the fall of communism and failure of places like North Korea prove that it will never work.

Set the economy free from the chains of the BoJ and politicians.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Abe’s promises to cut through red tape—the key third plank of Abenomics—have also been slow in coming.

Dream on. They are never coming because there is no plan to do anything. Why would Shinzo alienate the LDP's core constituency by harming their economic interests?

7 ( +10 / -3 )

Everyone knows this is all Abe's fault, yet he is still in power. When will this beast resign?

8 ( +9 / -1 )

And how many trillions of yen has Abe printed and wasted to finance this utter failure? This wazzock has landed us with debt that even my grandkids will not be able to pay off.

What will it take for the electorate to see Abe for what he is - a clueless failure - and boot him out?

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Consumer prices fall? Crap. As some14some said about food prices, I as a vegetarian I am spending way much on vegetables this fall.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

"If prices go down consumer will postpone purchases" is probably one of the biggest lies ever told to mankind. Yeah, I see people starving everyday because they wait for a week for food to be 10 yen cheaper before purchasing them.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Bank of Japan (BOJ) Gov Haruhiko Kuroda has pointed a finger at weak crude prices as the chief culprit behind the weakness.

Silly humans, taking advantage of a cheap source of fuel to make their lives a little easier instead of paying high electric bills to heat and cool their homes.

Japan gets most of their oil from the Gulf States that also supports the Petrodollar. It seems odd to me that they would point only one finger at something that is totally out of their control, while it is also one of the main columns holding up their fake economy.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

minello7 - If the TV you're thinking of buying would be 5% more expensive next year, you'd be likely to rush out and buy it now. In Japan it's going to be 5% cheaper next year. Why not wait? That's the theory, but in reality the effect is minor in current conditions.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

But I really want inflation to increase 2%. I want to pay more. C'mon guys!

6 ( +8 / -2 )

”The BoJ hoped that consumers would spend more if prices were rising” Is there someone here who could please explain this sentence to me, because my small brain is finding it difficult to understand. Me personally would spend less as prices go up, using the logic , "maybe I want but do I need".

15 ( +15 / -0 )

The BoJ hoped that consumers would spend more if prices were rising, persuading firms to expand operations and getting the economy humming.

Bottom line it's all about consumers purchasing power. Always have the impression Abenomics target one (inflation) or the other (salaries) but do not see the correlation between the two. One needs money to spend it.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Sure lets blame the low cost of oil as a culprit for your failed policies. It seems the power that be in Japan want oil to be as sky high as possible just to achieve their stupid idea of 2% inflation, not taking into account that people in local areas depend on oil much more than city folk. Gasoline for cars, kerosene to heat their houses, all of this is directly affected by the price of oil, and they want to gouge more if they could. Some14some, I agree, the price of fresh food is outrageous, and will continue during these winter months, where they got their prices from I'd like to know.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

The idiots need to put food in the index, and they will reach their target.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Shinzo Abe’s faltering bid to pump up the world’s number three economy.

Why mince words?

Why not call it what it is?

A failure.

Abe has failed to halt the slide of the Japanese economy.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

core prices excluding fresh food fell 0.4 percent from a year ago—come several weeks after Japan’s central bank pushed back the timeline for hitting its 2.0 percent inflation target.

please recheck, i think fresh food prices alone must have helped boj achieve its 2 percent inflation target.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

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