Major Japanese companies pessimistic about economy: survey

The slow death of a closed economic model has strapped the Japanese workers to ridiculous work hours, poor production and artificially inflated prices that can no longer be supported by the salaries they recieve. In Japan, 200mg of Ibuprophen cost 123 yen a pill, in the USA, same pill cost 2 yen a pill and I can do this with everything. Profit margins are ridiculous in Japan. Average USA grocery store operates on a 2-3% margin, in Japan 23-24% margin AND very limited food choices!

Consumers here are lousy shoppers and have a built in nationalism in their thinking, which of course would change in a second if the economy was opened up. 200mg of Ibuprophen is just that, no one makes it better...

Seems to me like the "right" hand of Japan and the "left" hand of Japan have no idea what the other is doing!

All the rosy news about increases in consumer spending, lowering under-employment, etc etc, followed by the rising yen, lower profits, increased costs etc etc etc.

Doctor Jekyll and My Hyde?

And yet, the 'economists' are planning on raising taxes. The ship's slowly sinking. Maybe it's time to bail.

 ........as well as a spread of protectionist trade policies around the world

Hmm...Japan wants access to those open markets, but refuses access to theirs....how does it feel now?

All the rosy news about increases in consumer spending, lowering under-employment, etc etc,

That's the short-term effect of Quantitative Easing. Injecting borrowed money into the economy to stimulate borrowing, which creates artificial demand, which leads to higher employment and more jobs to supply the demand, jobs that would not have existed otherwise.

The article is about the long-term effect of QE. Once the cycle ends, there are no more easy money to borrow, that leads to rapid contraction in demand, which leads to unemployment, job cuts, less investment, less spending, bankruptcies, and overall economic contraction. This contraction is necessary to get rid of all the malinvestments done by the artificial increase of demand, and to also liquidate all the accumulated debt by borrowing easy loans.

Think about QE as getting drunk. It's nice while it lasts. The pain comes only after you get sober. You have to endure few hours of pain until your body get rid of the hangover. If you keep drinking to avoid the hangover, you will never recover. If they keep injecting QE after QE to avoid the hangover, the economy will never recover.

Major Japanese companies pessimistic about economy

Pessimistic? They just being realistic.

So, they only asked the major companies because they know full well that 100% of small businesses have no confidence what so ever in the current economic climate of Abe’s three arrows with screw tips.

Among the 112 companies surveyed, 66 percent said the Japanese economy was flat, 23 percent said it was gradually expanding, and 10 percent saw it as in recession

While multiple trade wars throughout the world may be partly responsible, the biggest reason has to be rising prices mixed with shrinking wages.

As for Japan's tightened controls on exports to South Korea of three materials used in semiconductor and display panel production, more than a half of the companies did not know how it would affect their businesses or declined to comment.

How can they not know ? They fully know it will negatively affect their businesses but are unwillingly to say it out of nationalism as a negative view would make the government look bad.

I'm glad I travel a lot. Living in a cage must really limit people...

This must be why J Corps have moved manufacturing to China and reducing quality and quantity on their food products while charging the same price, and the citizens seem to remain ambivalent. DIY’ers and small businesses in the States have been commenting on the decline in quality of Makita and Hitachi/Hikoki power tools for awhile now.

Wheres the article on J Corp taking advantage of the loyalty of Japanese consumers?

Don't think we've ever heard them being optimistic!

@JustMyThoughts

Certain OTC drugs may be more expensive in Japan but overall prices for prescription drugs are relatively low. It is the US that is notorious world wide for drug prices.

(Bloomberg)

But what really sets the U.S. apart from most other countries is high prices.

https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/drug-prices

US drug prices higher than in the rest of the world

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/369727-us-drug-prices-higher-than-in-the-rest-of-the-world-heres-why

And countless other articles.

As for pricing of ibuprophen, I checked the price for the domestic product sold under the trade name イプ? The price is on the order of 7-10 yen per pill. The imported product might cost 123 yen per pill but the domestic product is far less expensive.

@ Henny Penny

Your comments are simply not true but that's OK.

Ibuprophen is an over the counter drug in both the US and Japan. I know what 12 tablets cost in Japan.

AND, how exactly is it better that imported is more expensive? LOL, all Japanese beers are sold in the US. I CAN BUY a six pack of Sapporo for under 800 yen in San Francisco. LOL, thats 6.99 USD.

What Keidanren is really saying is that they still make more than enough profit but they would like to have more to please their international investors.

Protectionism is the only counter measure we have to ensure we don't become a cog in the globalist machine and slowly but surely lose our culture and identity.

@ilovecoffee

Once the cycle ends, there are no more easy money to borrow, that leads to rapid contraction in demand...

Where does that little analysis come from? After QE ended and rates were hiked back up in the US, the economy staged a solid recovery with stable prices and full employment, while corporate earnings were at record highs.

@JustMyThoughts

I'll still rather live in Japan.

Low costs can be created from underpaying your workers which is a problem in the US.

Ibuprofen is cheaper partially due to demand as people in the US are taking these drugs as part of their everyday lives which you shouldn't. Most people are not going to the doctor's to treat the inherent problems due to ridiculous healthcare costs and are therefore using painkillers to hide the problems.

Profit margins are higher but people's wages are also higher in Japan.

I'm not saying it has no problems but some things on the surface are not as simple as you think.