Gov't downgrades view of economy as Abe promises reform

The ship is already sinking, Mr Abe.

Raising taxes for the people who provide the income would be just like blowing another big hole in the bottom of the ship.

"A nation trying to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."

Winston Churchill

But the grinning buffoon Kuroda was on TV last night claiming all is well.

But the report added that depressed conditions were due partly to poor weather—Japan was inundated with heavy rainfall and a string of typhoons this summer.

Oh, I see! So, their economic recovery plan for the so-called 'world's third largest economy' is so fickle it is effected by the weather? Can we conclude that they have no idea what they are doing?

the labor market is tightening

Ha ha ha, totally rubbish low paid haken, part time and contract jobs.

On the one hand, Japan is the world's third largest economy, so it is not like we are a grand failure. On the other hand, the economy will slowly grind down without the reforms of the third arrow. It is a big economy so it will happen in slow motion, and people may not notice. We were hoping he was enough of a nationalist that he would hit companies over the head to make reforms, but instead, he is just infuriating China and S. Korea. I guess that will be his legacy if he doesn't "walk the walk".

Go Abe. "Everything is under control". Just like the Fukushima plant. The only thing you have going for you is your adeptness in creating delay strategies. Until your focus changes from making the rich richer to really helping the less privileged, your boat will sink.

Blame it on the rain.

Is Abe the PM or Milli Vanilli?

But then again, wasn't Milli busted for lying about his public performances?

Abe hasn't quite figured out that running a country's finances is a lot like flying. Sudden movements tend to cause major problems and pulling back on the yoke to gain altitude without enough forward motion will only lead one to stall and fall out of the sky leading to a crash. Hmmmmmm, yup, Japan wasn't moving forward fast enough so taxing the people more caused them to spend less which in turn caused a stall in spending and what comes next?...

I am not a rocket scientist but when I pretend to be one, I usually have my sh!t together enough to know which way is up. Abe and company... not so much.

How about letting the yen truly move freely? It's much stronger than ~100 per USD. You can't have your cake and eat it, or in Japan's case strong export sales and (relative to currencies from other developed countries) a weak yen, at least if basic macroeconomics has taught us anything. It'll be a painful transition, but a necessary one to get out of this policy trap (recommended reading "Japan's Policy Trap").

They are seriously saying Japan's economy is in the toilet because of the rain?

Releasing the news when the markets are closed. Funny that.

In his speech to the United Nations this coming Thursday betcha Abe-san will include this empty statement quoted in the article above: “My administration’s growth strategy is paying off. The unemployment rate is now below 4% and the labor market is tightening.”

As he keeps doing everywhere he goes, surely he will continue to praise his three-arrow plan for the Japanese economy. He is his own cheerleader. So wonder how the U.N. members will comprehend his statements on this subject? Stay tuned ... 'cause he's probably working on his U.N. speech as you read this ... and it'll be forthcoming in a few days ...

Rain. Sounds like Abenomics has gone a bit limp and soggy.

The more Abe talks, the more his disconnect from reality is revealed to even the most casual observer. What a clueless chump! Perhaps the most economically ignorant leader besides Obama. Forrest Gump would do far better than either idiot.

Can't blame it all on the rain, but that does have to have some effect. It was raining almost non-stop since that typhoon in August, basically every weekend, too. It was really bad timing for me, because my parents were visiting, but it was probably bad timing for a lot of Japan.

Abe pointed to corporate tax cuts, deregulation of the electricity sectors, and more childcare facilities to help working women as being among the bright spots so far.

And this is all there s to show for the vaunted "third arrow"? As Bertie said in the very first post:

The ship is already sinking, Mr Abe.

All Abe is doing is re-arranging the deck chairs. Anyone who's future properity/wealth is tied up in Japan needs to look seriously at their options. Alibaba did their IPO yesterday here in the states, and my quess is that their market cap is now greater than all the Japanese electonics firms, combined. Japan is being clobbered on the gloal stage by China, SK and the U.S. as Sony admitted this week in announcing their poor earnings. No amount of new childcare facilities is going to change that.

Digging, digging and digging!

I am always impressed by such - fake - optimistic politicians, while I would be sweating and feeling like sh…t!

Them? No! Just continuing the same speech as usual!

Speechless!

“A tax hike is meant to secure more revenue, but we will do more harm than good if that revenue doesn’t come because the increase damages the economy.” holy frack anybody who knows anything about economics could have told your that, morons

So raising prices by increasing taxes and devaluing the yen doesn't entice consumers to spend more of their incomes (that are not rising as fast in real terms)? Gasp!

Japan needs an energy policy or the economy will never improve. If you can't keep the lights on and run your machinery than you have no economy.

What. A. Surprise.

Abe must focus on trade and not nationalist issues if he wants to save himself! He has lost US $billions for Japanese enterprises in China and spent billions more to make friends that he cannot keep. This is all so different from the 80's and 90's when we were taught to look East to Japan. With Abe we are all now focused on WW2 and comfort women and not buying Japanese. I am not a Chinese national!