politics

'Man from Toyota' may give BOJ's stimulus a reality check

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By Leika Kihara and Norihiko Shirouzu

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Is this the same guy who was in charge of Toyota US when the company hid the sudden acceleration incidents?

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The bank’s latest board nominee probably doesn’t yet have a strong view on monetary policy, say people who know him, but he’s already preparing for the job by reading a book by outspoken former BOJ deputy governor Kazumasa Iwata.

Reading to catch up on what he does not know. Not sure if he is the right man for the job.

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The LDP will wear him down and turn him into another Abenomics puppet... or should I note an Abenomics Muppet? Any public servant in Japanese slow bureaucratic civil service that strives to be different always has the rug pull out fro underneath them!

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picked someone without a strong view on monetary policy

Kind of liking picking someone with no background in aviation or aeronautical engineering to run the aviation safety board. "He doesn't know why airplanes crash, but he's good at selling cars and he'll pick it up quick". Anybody who made that claim would be treated as a joke, but apparently such thinking is OK when talking about a central bank. Pretty much explains why nothing ever works or gets fixed.

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Ed He is alreadt thought to be an Abenomics puppet - very on the side of printing loads more money. while it may be true that his lack of experience might be a minus, frankly if we look at what all the career economists and central bankers and bureaucrats have done to the world economy, it might be no bad thing.

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Ed HighMay. 05, 2015 - 09:30AM JST

The LDP will wear him down and turn him into another Abenomics puppet...

As others mentioned, he already is and that was the reason he was selected. They should choose a non-Japanese, like the Bank Of England, but it really is too late and nobody can fix this mess.

The damage was done in the early 2000s, which was the last time something could have been done to fix the fiscal mess. Abe knows this and so do the bigwigs in MOF. The only one who didn't know this was Kuroda who had been out of the domestic scene at the ADB. He is now realizing that he has been set up as the patsy for the fiscal debacle to come.

Come 2017 the international community is going to tear up Japan's credit card and the Yen is going to be worthless on the international market. Japan is going to have to pay for all imports - fuel, materials and food - with non-Japanese assets. Then watch the foreign currency reserves and foreign investments soon be used up.

If anyone thought the Asian Financial Crises of the late 90s was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet.

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What Funo, 68, will bring to the BOJ board, and the debate over its radical monetary experiment, is a realism born from more than four decades at Toyota, including running the world’s biggest automaker’s huge U.S. sales operations.

Some analysts say Funo’s background will see him lean toward policies that help weaken the yen, or at least stem sharp yen gains that hurt manufacturers. Others point to a potential conflict of interest, noting how Toyota pressured policymakers to act when a yen spike hit exporters reeling from supply chain disruptions after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Great, a 68 year-old guy who does really not understand monetary policy, but has an agenda of currency manipulation. Get ready to keep paying higher and higher prices for imporated food folks.

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Get ready to keep paying higher and higher prices for imporated food folks.** enough of the Japan needs high yen BS, Japan did just fine during the boom years with a low yen. Japan was built on exports no imports. low yen makes Japanese goods and Japanese labour cheaper, and slows the loss of jobs to asian rivals. less jobs mean, more welfare, less income taxes. better get used of a low yen because it wont be going below 100yen/$ anytime soon. oh and those imported foods would still be cheaper than the Japanese items if there wasnt any ridiculous tariffs on them, bring on the TPP. sorry if your imported goods are getting more expensive (buy Japanese made instead) or your repatriated Japanese wages arent worth as much in your home country, fact is your doing very little to help the J economy if thats you goal

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