Japan

OMG, Those “Who Truly Rule The World”

Most powerful person in the world? Putin! Sez Forbes. At least, it wasn’t Merkel, who has been throwing her weight around when she found out that her Handy had been bugged by the NSA, just like our cellphones. We have to take it; she gets to make a big stink and gripe to Obama on the (bugged) phone.

A Devastating Problem Japan Does NOT Have: Unemployment

Unemployment in Japan dipped to 4.0%, a gloriously low rate for most developed countries. But there are real reasons for this low number – a mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

What Will It Take To Blow Up The Entire Japanese Banking System? (Not Much, According To The Bank of Japan)

Buried in the Bank of Japan’s Financial System Report is a gorgeous whitewash doozie: if interest rates rise by 1 percentage point, it would cause ¥8 trillion ($82 billion) in losses across the banking system. Banks would be able to digest it. The system is safe. But then the report tallied up the losses of a 3 percentage point rise.

Why I’m So Worried About Japan’s Ballooning Trade Deficit

Trade is one of the critical elements in Abenomics. Devaluing the yen would boost exports and cut imports. The resulting trade surplus would goose the economy. But the opposite is happening. And it isn’t happening in small increments, with ups and downs, but rapidly and relentlessly. It’s not energy imports. They actually dropped! It’s a fundamental shift.

After Snatching Olympics, Japan Suddenly Admits Fukushima Not “Under Control,” Begs For International Help

As the Fukushima fiasco hobbled from cover-ups to partial revelations, mega-utility TEPCO – famous for its parsimoniousness with the truth and lackadaisical handling of the fiasco – always pretended the situation was under control. But days after Tokyo scored the 2020 Olympics, that pretense fell apart. Now Prime Minister Abe begged for international help.

The End Of Nuclear Energy In Japan?

“I’m calling for zero nuclear power,” said Junichiro Koizumi at a lecture in Nagoya. Hugely popular prime minister from 2001 to 2006, he’d groomed Shinzo Abe to become his successor. Abe, now again PM, is trying to restore the scandal-plagued nuclear industry to its former glory. But Koizumi’s words ripped into his policies – and are having an impact.

Hammered By Abenomics, Japanese Consumers Get Gloomier

A quarterly survey by the Bank of Japan brought a dose of reality to the glorious hype surrounding Abenomics, whose stated beneficiaries are the big banks and Japan Inc., including the formerly omnipotent nuclear power industry that Abenomics is trying to restore to its glory. But consumers are struggling with reality, apparently.

Supercars In The US, Japan, and China: How QE And Corruption Boosted Sales

Supercar-makers Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Rolls-Royce are reacting to the forces whacking global markets for luxury products: a corruption crackdown in China, Abenomics in Japan, and the Fed’s money-printing in the US. The idea that sales in China, which is printing billionaires by the dozens, are crashing is a hard-to-swallow concept for the industry.

Investors Of Japan’s Most Hated Corporation, TEPCO, To Be Bailed Out Forever

TEPCO, owner of the Fukushima nuke, whose lackadaisical handling of the fiasco is a fiasco itself, was bailed out by taxpayers after the disaster. It got another bailout as the government decided to deal itself with the radioactive groundwater leaking into the ocean. TEPCO should be bankrupt. But to add insult to injury, the government said, let’s not hurt investors!

Trade Is Supposed To Save Japan, According To The Gospel Of Abenomics, But In Reality…

Trade is one of the aspects that Abenomics designated as critical. So the Bank of Japan has embarked on a radical money-printing program to devalue the yen and make exports more competitive. It would also render imports so expensive that buyers would cut back. The resulting trade surplus would save Japan. In theory. In reality, the opposite is happening.