The latest success—I suppose you could call it that, at least for those involved on the financial end—was the Kiekert deal last week. The company was founded in 1857 near Düsseldorf, Germany, and became the largest manufacturer of automotive door-lock systems. Its customers are GM, Ford, VW, BMW, and other automakers around the world. But now a Chinese company bought Kiekert, the sign of a sea change.
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A Revolt, the Quiet Japanese Way
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on A Revolt, the Quiet Japanese Way
New revelations seeped out about the control Japan’s nuclear industry had over regulators. In 2006, the Nuclear Safety Commission studied the enlargement of disaster-mitigation zones. But the Economics Ministry put an end to it, worried that it ”could cause social unrest and increase popular anxiety.” Five years later, after the preventable meltdowns at the Fukushima power plant, the people paid the price.
March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami: A Personal Perspective
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami: A Personal Perspective
The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 a year ago and the nuclear catastrophe that followed are personal to me: my wife is from Tokyo, and my in-laws live there. To our immense relief, no one we know was hurt. But others weren’t that lucky: 15,854 died and 3,155 are still missing. This missive, written by my wife four days after the quake, depicts the chaos in Tokyo, the emotions, and the unique Japanese ways of coping with it.
Evaporating Japanese Pension Fund Assets
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Evaporating Japanese Pension Fund Assets
Japanese pension funds face a tricky situation. On one side is an investment environment of near-zero yields, declining real estate values, and a stock market that is down 75% from its peak in 1989. On the other side is a ballooning retirement-age population who enjoys the longest life expectancy in the world. So the one thing they don’t need is pension fund assets evaporating from an asset management firm.
‘They should Revolt’
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on ‘They should Revolt’
Tokyo, April 1996. The problem is money. It dematerializes in multiples of 10,000-yen bills. There’s even a word for ten thousand: man. Anything less is change. You pay two man yen for dinner and drinks, plus one man yen for a love hotel, plus one man yen for breakfast, lunch, and miscellaneous expenses. You’ve blown four man yen, or about $400, without having done anything fancy.
Nuclear Contamination As Seen By Japanese Humor
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Nuclear Contamination As Seen By Japanese Humor
After an endless stream of horrid reports on the tragedy of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, we’re ready for something … lighter. This has been circulating in the Japanese internet community for months, has garnered countless comments, and a lot of nodding, agreement, and knowing smiles because it represents, in the eyes of many Japanese, a larger tongue-in-cheek truth.
Now A Housing Bubble In Germany
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Now A Housing Bubble In Germany
Germans are euphoric these days—compared to the dour mood that prevailed for nearly two decades when real wages declined in a stagnating economy with high unemployment. This new optimism is joyriding the powerful German export machine and appears to be impervious to the nightmarish scenarios playing out at the periphery of the Eurozone. And now, Germans have something else to be euphoric about: a housing bubble.
Unpopularity Contest at the Edge of the Japanese Abyss
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Unpopularity Contest at the Edge of the Japanese Abyss
While all eyes are on the Greek farce, a much bigger fiasco on the other side of the globe is advancing at an inexorable pace. All Japanese prime ministers since Koizumi slither down a steep slope that lasts between 8 and 15 months. When approval ratings drop into the low twenties, they’re replaced by a new sacrificial lamb. And Prime Minister Noda is on a straight line down to replacement hell—while economic fundamentals are falling apart.
Greece at the Point of no Return
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Greece at the Point of no Return
“The European Union is suffering under Germany,” said Georgios Karatzaferis, president of the right-wing LAOS party. He accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of trying to “impose her will on Southern Europeans.” He called the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, and Luxembourg “satellite states” of Germany. And then, with a few words, he pushed Greece a step closer to bankruptcy.
The Endgame: Japan Inc. Seeks Salvation Overseas
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Endgame: Japan Inc. Seeks Salvation Overseas
Japanese companies spent $70 billion on acquisitions overseas in 2011—a record. Armed with a ferociously strong yen, they’re going overseas to escape the pressures at home where electricity rationing has become part of corporate life, along with a stagnant economy and a dwindling working-age population. But they’re doing it just when Japan can least afford it.