The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© 2015 AFPWeak data latest bad news for Abenomics
TOKYO©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© 2015 AFP
36 Comments
Login to comment
Fagui Curtain
Japan economy is doomed. Abenomics or any plan will not work. Abenomics is just worse than the others. The Japanic has hit the iceberg and is slowly but surely going vertical
nath
Abenomics = The single greatest economic failure of the Industrial / post Industrial Age.
It was a scam to use taxpayer funds to fund pork belly projects of the LDP's cronies in the construction industry in exchange for kickbacks. A first year university student could've told you that Abenomics wouldn't work.
ThePBot
I'm sure it's just technical weak data, just like the technical recession. Fear not, there's nothing like adding 3 more arrows to solve this. The tally is now at 12 arrows.
JackKasket
So, now we wait for Abe to give a speech where he puts the blame on consumers not spending enough, or taking loans to fund their "enhanced" cup noodle purchases.
Victim-blaming ahoy!
smithinjapan
"That poor reading has prompted Tokyo to consider a special stimulus package to counter the downturn. "
How about not giving trillions to other nations just to pat yourself on the back?
Scrote
The arrows of Abenomics struck deep into the heart of the Japanese economy, leaving a barely-twitching corpse. The LDP's answer, of course, is more of the same.
crustpunker
Ye Gawds! Abe is looking positively GRIM in the above photo.
I think this more underscores the fact that consumers remain POOR
"Cautious" is a word used for people who actually have disposable income. Not, for many middle class/working class families who can just about scrape by with cost cutting at every opportunity.
ThonTaddeo
I see that the author of this piece is "economizing" by taking the same phrase, making some minor tweaks, and copy-pasting it into article after article -- never mind that the sentence itself is biased and has no place in a professionally-written piece of journalism.
Abenomics was never about reviving the economy. It was about tricking the populace and looting whatever the LDP and its cronies could grab while the country is still relatively healthy.
Those short-term do-nothing prime ministers we laughed at in 2010 and 2012? Wouldn't you like to have them back? I know I would. The economy wasn't booming, but we could save money, things were getting just a little better each year, and we certainly weren't losing anything.
ClippetyClop
“I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” - W.Churchill
kickboard
The main problem is that the Japanese people are still in a deflationary mindset. As a whole, they'd also rather save than invest, even if the bank paid 0 interest. On average, a Japanese household has 18,000,000 yen in cash. However, that money's not going anywhere at the moment.
ThonTaddeo
After watching the colossal 1980s stock market bubble that sent the Nikkei to more than double its value today and which ruined anyone who got in too late, can you blame them?
People would be much more confident about investing if there were safe, solid returns available. All that is offered to Japanese savers is the 0.01% returns at the bank and the casino that is the stock market.
Fagui Curtain
18,000,000 yen in cash ?? No way, more like 1,800,000
Yubaru
Japan needs to get in line with other industrialized countries on reporting unemployment information. This makes no sense, if unemployment were in reality this low it would be a sign of a booming economy not one in recession.
The under-employment figures should be shown, as anyone who is reported as working even ONE hour a week is considered to be "employed" and that is just BS.
Gary Raynor
kickboardNov. 27, 2015 - 12:04PM JST
You should do a bit more research into those statistics. You'll find that there is a considerable generation distortion of those figures.
95% of the savings in this country are held by those over 65. Something like 4% is held by those aged 65 - 50, while those under 50 hold only 1% of those savings.
If I remember correctly the average savings of people under 50 is only something like Y 2,000,000.
It's this generational distortion of wealth, added with wage rises not keeping up with price rises for this fall in spending.
Nothing to do with a deflationary mindset - such a nonsense expression.
chomskyite
Oops there it is....when the next stimulus.....money printing .. is announced the yen will explode to the downside Japan is trapped, how can they keep the yen from sliding further? They can't sell US treasuries to buy yen cause Uncle Sam would whip their butt. It would have to come from private sector buying of treasuries so JP gov could dump them. Who would these private buyers be? Japan post anyone? That will work until it doesn't , then kurashu bang boom, and it's gone.
turbotsat
Governments collect tax information electronically. They are not going to forget data on weekly or monthly wages, or survey them to get an estimate. They have the exact information. Yet somehow they need to collect surveys of employment info, and release that info after tweaking it.
Aly Rustom
Consumers are not cautious. We are poor.
That, in turn, tends to hurts companies’ expansion and hiring plans, denting the wider economy.
Well, then raise the minimum wage substantially. that will get you out of deflation.
With the population collapsing, prices fall. its called supply and demand. don't like it? immigration is the key.
hampton
kickboard, Japan now has no average compensity to save. In the 80s the average family saved around 25% of income, but now the average family is spending its savings:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30603313
The problem is that the Japanese government hasn't worked out that we're now in the 21st century and the Prime Minister and his semi-feudal government only care about their own special interests. One of these is the rural electorate that chooses the government. He taxes the crap put of the cities and hands the money to construction companies and farmers who in turn re-elect him through the unconstitutional electoral system. Abe is a hopeless case of useless and only got elected because his grandfather was Kishi and the LDP supports feudalism over meritocracy.
ThonTaddeo, thumbs up, again. I am yet to find a single post of yours that I do not wholeheartedly agree with.
sighclops
Nothing against the writer, of course - but I'm getting tired of the government using the low unemployment figure as a 'shining star' in the seriously worrying figures it publishes annually. It's an unrealistic & quite frankly unfair reflection on the actual job market - 40%+ in part time positions & growing.
umbrella
And yet again figures show just how much of a basket case the japanese economy is. Hopeless, just hopeless and there's absolutely no answer to it. The japanese people will just go on gamaning and shoganaiing themselves as per usual of course and so things will just steadily go on getting worse.
Frightening to consider what the economy and the state of the country will be in 10 years time. No wonder the country can't attract the rich elite foreign workers they desire. Who in their right mind, english teachers excepted of course, would come to japan for a one year contract on the such low wages offered?? No one.
Meiyouwenti
Abe has been steadily runing Japan. Well done, Mr Abe, if that's what he originally intended to do.
The obvious problem of Japan today is that supply far exceeds demand. And yet the government is all out to increase supply capacity by further deregulation while curbing demand by cutting back on public works projects and raising taxes---the surest way to recession.
The miracle is that nearly 50 percent of the people still support Mr.Abe. Have they all been brainwashed?
fxgai
That the Japanese economy doesn't respond as expected (and hoped) to a tight labour market, suggests that something is broken and needs fixing. Not more of the same.
Their best idea is (yet another) special stimulus package. They should have learnt by now that band-aids don't fix broken bones.
They just aren't serious about it. Abe's advisors believe that the central bank printing money and the bureaucrats spending it will generate sustainable growth.
shonanbb
My main question is why should I buy things I do not need? That does not make any sense.
I need food, and that does not count in the stats. Add it please and then you will see your fake inflation.
ironsword
Who will rescue the Japanese economy? The"politicians" sure as hell haven't got a clue what to do.
Simon Foston
Right, their sole goal seems to be to win elections, and they have a formula worked out for that which doesn't involve rescuing the economy.
bruinfan
I notice even most of the Abe supporters have dried up and blown away (not all but most...some are benefiting at the expense of the majority of their countrymen).
nath
Japan is a tricky one, because as some posters have pointed out they save like there is no tommorow. There is money in the bank. Some appear to live in poverty, while acutally they are just being prudent. Compare to the U.S. where many live well, but who are actually in debt, but that spending does wonders for the economy. The trick is to get the japanese to spend, but there lies the problem; their spendings can be wiped out in one day due to the ridiculously high prices of goods and services like cars, fuel, shaken/hoken/taxes, eating out education travel to the inaka, etc. So they save their bonues and live in squalor, buying crap at the monoply chain stores and take zero risk like loans, career change or life abroad. Once a year maybe a trip to a discount ryokan or onsen. many will be strapped to a lifetime commitment to a loan for a mansion 3LDK in some ugly city. Thats about as good as it gets.
TPP could offer these hoarders a better lifestyle and choices; but the riches shall not be taken from the top heavy bureacrats, and the cycle continues. major quality of life changes are unthinkable; like more movement out of Tokyo into the desolate but beautiful countryside, but the money and connections are still in Tokyo. So we see allot of roads being torn up and redone, instead of development projects in the inaka to move the masses out of Tokyo.
I think allot of Japans problems are of its own making, but theyve gotten so used to it, I think they actually like it.
Yubaru
This is about unemployment figures, I do not understand where you are coming from about tax data being linked to unemployment figures.
They gather data from Hello Work and the number of people collecting unemployment, however it does not include the number of people who's benefits (unemployment benefits here are VERY limited) have run out and are neither employed nor looking for work either.
It's unreal to think that with a down-turning economy that unemployment numbers would go down as well.
globalwatcher
As you know that BOJ is no longer independent since 3 gangs (Abe, Aso, Amari) elected Kuroda as a head of BOJ. What they are doing is eventually breaking up Japan. A bunch of Japanese politicians are acting like car salesmen to run this country. Pathetic! The fact is Japanese consumers are poorer compared to 15 years ago. Sell yen investment and buy $$ investment for protection.
jerseyboy
Ouch. So flooding the economy with trillions of yen has neither spurred the intended inflation, nor increased domestic consumption. But, don't worry, Alex, Jeff, and Guy will have lots of great theory to quote us "economic illiterates" about how this is perfectly OK and no cause at all for concern.
bicultural
Actually, kickboard is not far off. According to this site, the average family has 17,390,000 yen (not including real estate) :
http://www.arigatou365.com/archives/668
shonanbb
bicult: Most that own real estate owe a lot of money on it.
Goodlucktoyou
Latest.
Frederic Bastiat
Wait for the kicker. So far, the fallen oil price has masked the reality of the situation. As long as the oil prices remain low, the true weakness will remain masked. But, the masquerade won't go on forever. Meanwhile, if possible, buy gold while the prices are artificially suppressed. Or Silver.
kickboard
I wouldn't call it "nonsense" when it is commonly used in the news :
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/bid-to-end-japans-deflationary-mindset-only-halfway-to-goal-the-yomiuri-shimbun
http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?storyid=16714f3c-77ac-49b9-9e53-837a07769bb5