BOJ warns Japan faces new risks as population shrinks

The world is overpopulated, Japan is over populated for the useable land available, a reducing population is good for the people as a whole but not for the fat cats who need lots of worker drones to keep producing and consuming. What these out of touch, backward looking dinosaurs forget is that there will progressively be less jobs for people to do as automation replaces them, not just the manual jobs hit so far but more and more of the middleclass white collar jobs lost to AI algorithms. Countries with a large unemployable population are going to face serious social problems and disruption.

The world is in the midst of a population explosion. That Japan has figured out how not to be part of that problem is a good thing.

BOJ warns Japan faces new risks as population shrinks

Duh. Personally, I think that the ship has sailed for this country. The country has lost over a million people the last 5 years and every year the number drops exponentially. I'm guessing it won't be long before the annual population drop reaches in the millions. By then Japan won't be facing new risks. They are going to be doomed

For the general population, does more luxury and easier life depend on economic growth?

usually yes

Does working less and spending more time for leisure mean a better life and better society?

definatly yes

As for retirees they have worked and paid for their retirement, done their bit. No ones concern what they do with their spare time, I see hundreds caring for grandchildren so their own children can work and garner a wage under the poverty line. Calling for people to work until death. Don't people work with the goal of one day actually doing what they want before they are hospitalised or dead?

Why does economic growth become the issue?

For the government, it is a problem with budgets and taxation.

For the general population, does more luxury and easier life depend on economic growth?

Does working less and spending more time for leisure mean a better life and better society?

There are so many issues here that has to do with the economy...

And there are so many issues as to which direction the country wants to go...

Meanwhile other nationalities are taking over the land and the work...

Japan must first "own" Japan... and Japan must first put all of Japan to "work"...

I see hundreds of 60+ men and women crowding community centers doing almost nothing... or sitting in Pachinko parlors wasting their hard earned retirement money...

And they were engineers, business executives, all willing and able to work if they were given the "opportunity"... isn't Japan wasting their most important asset..?

And we are talking about economic growth...?

The problem is the system itself. It's a massive ponzi scheme. When banks print fiat 'money' from nothing (the principal) and then charge interest on it, there's only so long it can last since the interest was never created in the first place. Fractional reserve lending only compounds the problem. A bit like musical chairs, someone always misses out (bankruptcies, homelessness etc).

Kuroda can blame the shrinking population but the problem is much deeper than that. He talks about economic growth because that's how a ponzi works. It's unsustainable in the end.

policies must be devised to prevent the shrinking population from hindering economic growth

So we don't care if the population shrinks, just so this does not affect economic growth?

Since taking his post in April 2013, Kuroda has flooded Japan's economy with cash through central bank asset purchases to help fight deflation and keep the economy growing.

Not that the common worker is seeing any of this "flood" of cash!

elephant200 t is not a good thing for a nation having the "The longest life span of people " in the world!

.

What are you implying?

That elderly people be euthanized?

It's not like the government has policy to make people live long.

People live long lives due to many factors : genes; lifestyle; diet . . .Italians also are known for their longevity.

And Japan's rejection of immigration to their country will further deteriorating their situation!

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Agreed.

1. The tightly restricted immigration policies in Japan will prove to backfire on it viability as a nation

This is one major area in the Japanese system, which separates Japan - as a developed country - from one like Canada or Australia ( where the population is growing, due to immigration.)

On the one had, keeping Japan's population homogenous makes the country appears quaint, and easier to govern; as well as 'safe'.

However in the long run it is counter-productive.

2. Secondly - the Japanese Government has not done anything to encourage couples to have children. Such as, tax credits for every child; (until recently) covering the cost of delivery; providing women maternity leave with the guarantee that they will get their jobs back after delivery; giving leave for fathers.

These policies are naturally embedded in the Health & Welfare Programs inmost developed countries.

Japan is still medieval in this area.

I

If they implemented polices that made it possible for younger people to make a decent living wage and to afford to have kids than this would be less of a problem.  Instead of printing money for the benefit of finance and the fat cats.

It is not a good thing for a nation having the "The longest life span of people " in the world! And Japan's rejection of immigration to their country will further deteriorating their situation!

It is the least problem.

Japan faces unforeseen risks in guiding economic policy as its population of about 126 million ages and declines, the governor of its central bank said Thursday.

They knew this 20 years ago. Time for a new approach slackers

Bank of Japan Gov Haruhiko Kuroda told fellow financial leaders at a G20 symposiumThursday that policies must be devised to prevent the shrinking population from hindering economic growth.

Pray tell, when is the last time there has been viable economic growth here that actually made people's lives better?

Instead of jumping on the "age" bandwagon here, why not implement policies to stabilize the current economy and make it viable for younger people to actually be paid wages and have a lifestyle where they can start families and stabilize the population!