Gov't picks strong easing proponent for BOJ board

The comments stirred memories of seven years ago when Japan’s opposition scuppered a nomination because the name was leaked and it rejected other nominees, which prevented the government from getting its first-choice candidate on the board.

The media should not re-write history. Seven years ago in 2008, opposition DPJ did not give consent to nominee Muto Toshiro, not because the nomination was leaked, but because Muto was a retired Ministry of Finance bureaucrat and such nomination was routine as "candy" for ex-bureaucrats.

I side with DPJ, for board membership of BOJ is too important to be used as personal monetary benefit of corrupt officials.

The media should not re-write history.

Yeah, that's the realm of the government and right-wingers.

LDP has majorities in both houses, they can surely appoint any nutcase reflationist that they choose, no?

and declining real wages will make it difficult to meet its inflation target.

Over two years into Abenomics and the root problems are still not showing any real signs of improvement. You can artifically create inflation by printing more and more money, but, until that results in a real/sustained increase in domestic consumption, based on wages increasing, it is all just window dressing.

he has pledged to end 15 years of deflation and stagnation with bold monetary easing and economic reforms

Well good luck with that. QE, at least regarding JGBs, is not "bold monetary easing" (or money printing), it is simply shuffling already existing money around between different accounts. It is also deflationary as it cuts off the free lunch of government interest payments to the private sector. As for "economic reforms", the third arrow is just a case of doubling down on stupid, sold to Abe by incompetent economist fools who have no idea how anything works in the real world. Abe can pledge anything he wants, but it ain't gonna happen.

Harada told Reuters in an interview in January that the focus of monetary policy should be on stimulating the economy rather than achieving an inflation target, which should be considered only as a means for reflating growth

Exactly. Just what I said in my earlier post. Inflation is not a goal in and of itself. Infaltion caused by real consumer demand is. That has been my problem with Abenomics and Kuroda all along.

Oooops... time to get rid of all those saved Yen...

it is all just window dressing.

Could very well be the intention, as described in the documentary 'Princes of the Yen'; to make it seem as if no monetary policies work and that structural adjustments are necessary, opening up Japan for foreign interests.