Japan's core inflation falls in August due to low oil prices

Japan inched back into deflationary territory in August

And the economy shrank in the quater ended in June. Abe better have something magical in his three newest "arrows". Because the first three have not gotten much traction.

But won't lower oil prices, which in turn mean lower gas prices help to spur the economy? More people driving and shopping and sightseeing, speding money, which in turn will help the government increase the taxes it receives. The article says that if you factor out oil, that core inflation rose by .08%. I know it is not a lot, but why don't they just exclude oil, and then everybody will be happy!

Well, i guess there is one more option. If you cannot raise demand perhaps you can start killing supply.How about that, Mr Abe? Start shutting down imports and producers in Japan. Start destroying houses. Worth a try, right? Might work. Never know. Eh? All that extra money floating around searching for food and shelter and clothing. Bound to raise inflation, I'd a thought. What have we got to lose?

They will never have inflation until there is a SIGNIFICANT and OFFICIAL rise in wages. How stupid can Abe be?? The answer is staring him right in the face! Raise the minimum wage fool!

TPP... Inflation... Deflation.... Food prices.... OIl...they're all entwined... If they truly want to create instant inflation then they should simply lower the so called volatile food prices to where they should be... 500 yen for an apple ? 300 yen for a tomato? Price of rice? A whole chicken 3-5000 yen ? Oil should not be included in the gdp. OIl is too volatile... And the issue why TPP is entwined is simply because the Japanese people will know how bad they've been getting screwed since the late 80's... This is the problem

The government has made achieving an inflation rate of about 2 percent a key aim of its strategy for forcing the world’s third-largest economy out of the deflationary doldrums that it says is stifling growth.

Rather, the stifling business environment perpetrated in no small part by the government is an obstacle to growth and perpetuates the economic doldrums. At least the doldrums are deflationary rather than inflationary (although I personally do consume food and energy).

Theoretically, expectations of higher inflation would lead families and businesses to step up spending to beat price increases. But companies have used massive cash piles accumulated thanks to record profits to invest overseas while consumers have remained relatively frugal.

Yes, profits are invested overseas. Why? Because the growth opportunities there are far more attractive than what is on offer in Japan. Abe's advisers should acknowledge their crappy theories were wrong and instead advise him to take more effective measures that address such issues.

The plan focused mainly on promises of improved social welfare policies to help alleviate the burden of child and elder care and encourage a higher birth rate.

Basically, you have to listen to what he says he will focus on and then understand that in fact, he's telling you what WON'T happen.

I figured him out.

Right... blame it on lower oil. Come on, this all started when the Bubble collapsed 25 years ago. Japan never called in bad debt and it never repriced real estate. When the market collapsed in 2007 in the USA.... millions of people lost their homes and real estate drop by 20% to 50% depending where you were. Japan.... its been a slow trickle down for 25 years except for some areas in central Tokyo and Osaka. The 2nd major reason.... services in Japan were exceptional, but the extra service was built into the price of such goods and services. Everything was overpriced. Again, for the last 25 years Japanese retailers and service have had to learn how to do more with less.... eventually they could not do more and had to cut things.... competition picked up and they had to slowly reduce prices. The 3rd factor.... demographics. No growth in population means no growth in the economy. Abenomics needs to totally deregulate Japan. They need to open the doors to immigration and they need to do away with the big importers....

If they truly want to create instant inflation then they should simply lower the so called volatile food prices to where they should be... 500 yen for an apple ? 300 yen for a tomato? Price of rice? A whole chicken 3-5000 yen ?

Not so easy. Its called protectionism; they are protecting the domestic markets and farmers selling with inflated prices. Drop that mess and people would spend like crazy, but those high wages they enjoy due to the protectionist policy would decrease. They got it all figured out how to make it work for them, but starting to see cracks.

We have all really lost our way in a fog. The West is following Japan down the completely wrong road of trying to crate a centrally planned economy. We need governments to stop trying to control and command the economy! Quantitative easing is soviet planning at its worst. The insanity of governments continually trying this nonsense is bankrupting our countries as sure as it did the old USSR.

I am trying to eat salads for lunch, and the price of lettuce doubled in a week. 200 yen to 400 yen 80 yen for a skinny cucumber? I thought the summer time vegetables would be cheap...

I thought the summer time vegetables would be cheap...

Less than 40% sunshine compared to an average year, plus all the rains/floods .... it hasn't been a particularly good growing season.

Need food from overseas. It amazes me that Japanese life expectancies are what they are given how expensive it is to eat healthy food here.

declining consumer prices is bad ?

do you think it would be soooo good for Japanese people to see their wages stay still (or keeping going down) while the price of everything goes up by 10% or more ?

stupid policy goals in the first place

Talking of low oil prices, why have airfares still NOT decreased?

Crude oil is cheaper, but crude oil is not what fuels jets. There's all sorts of other costs involved besides the raw material.

The core consumer price index slipped 0.1 percent after remaining flat in July. The “headline” inflation rate, which includes both food and energy data, was flat at 0.2 percent.

So a 0.1% decline in CPI in one index is a "slip", but a 0.2% rise in another, more life-influencing CPI index is "flat".

How did this paradox get past an editor?

It's almost like the conveniently-unnamed author has an agenda.

Governments with large, unpayable debts, like the United States and Japan, the largest debtor nation in the history of the world, and the largest debt to GDP ration of any industrialized country in the world, respectively, have only three choices re their debt: default, restructure, or inflate it away by printing money. Throughout history governments have tried to print up money to pay their debt, which is a hidden tax on its citizens. The propaganda is that its for economic stimulus. Think about this: Do you rush out and buy more stuff when the store announces prices just increased 10% or when there is a 10% off sale? People will go out and spend all the money they have when inflation gets to the point where the currency is losing value at such a fast rate, that food prices go up everyday. An economy in a state of semi-hyper-inflation, is on the verge of civil unrest: See Brazil in the 70's and now, Venezeula, Mexico, Argentina, for an example of countries that tried to print their way out of debt. The worst cases are Zimbabwe and Germany after WWI. Those who owned gold and silver retained their purchasing power after the currency collapse.

Mike, I don't know why I need gold or silver today.

I can flip my depreciating currency for an appreciating one at the click of a button or swipe and touch of a panel. Anytime of the day. So long as the two currencies are liquid.

Buying gold, silver etc just means more hassle. And eventually before I can use the gold or silver I probably need to convert back to currency again anyway, incurring transaction costs.

Unless I thought the entire global financial system were collapsing simultaneously I don't see much point in metals.

They always take out the volatile food prices like it doesn't have an effect. It's not only the oil prices, food prices have inflated causing companies to keep luxury good prices low. Then add the tax hikes, deflation will happen because people don't have the extra cash to waste on necessities.

If there was any reality to this article the oil prices going down are helping most people to get the things they need. If oil prices rise, prices will rise more and people would buy even less junk.

@fxgai.... If you're worth less than a certain amount of money then, yes, gold and silver make no sense. But if, for example, you're worth more than $1 million in various investments. Well then it would be smart to put 2% to 5%, into precious metals. Basically your doomsday investment. Its like having a small insurance policy against global financial meltdown.

deflationary doldrums that it says is stifling growth.

Deflation is more the symptom of Japan's economic problems, not the cause. Incomes have remained pretty stagnant for more than 10 years (maybe longer). Combine that with Japan's high living and business costs, and an interventionist/protectionist government that loves to hike taxes, Japan's economy slows down.

Incomes have to go up and/or taxation on salaries has to come right down. A sound reduction/reform of regulations, and tax cuts for business/investors are also required. There needs to be more money in the economy, in the hands of consumers and business, being invested, and spent.

Stimulus packages, and QE don't lead to more discretionary income, or significantly higher profits for businesses (not in the financial/banking industry). There's very little in Abenomics that will lead to even a modest economic revival.