Business Nov 29, 2021
Economists wargame how omicron variant will impact global recovery
The new COVID-19 variant has dealt a blow to optimistic hopes of a global economic recovery, but what comes next will be dictated by scientific research.
Simon Kennedy
For Simon Kennedy's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Business / Economy Apr 18, 2021
Pandemic will leave deep scars in world economy even after recovery
Just as some patients recovering from COVID-19 suffer long-lasting symptoms, it’s becoming clear that the same will be true for the global economy.
Business / Economy Apr 6, 2020
Jobs destroyed worldwide as coronavirus triggers deep recession
The world’s workers are reeling from the initial shock of the coronavirus recession, with job losses and welfare claims around the globe already running into the millions this week. With International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warning of a "crisis like no other,” the ...
Business Jan 22, 2018
A year ago, Davos thought Trump would be a normal president
If there was one message that echoed through the mountains ringing Davos a year ago, it was that the business world could ignore tweets from U.S. leader Donald Trump. Once in office Trump would act more like a conventional American president and his torrent of ...
Business / Tech Jan 28, 2016
Artificial intelligence predicts BOJ policy on hold this week
The list of areas in which the machines are beating humans can now be expanded to include predicting the Bank of Japan's next moves. As analysts search for portents as to whether the BOJ will follow the European Central Bank in pursuing still more monetary ...
Asia Pacific Jan 25, 2016
With U.S. divided, China struggling, government and business leaders fret about power vacuum
A polarized U.S. presidential race; question marks over China's economic management; and a once-dominant German chancellor suddenly under threat. Those were the flash points that dominated last week's annual gathering of the World Economic Forum as executives, investors and policy makers fretted about the lack ...
Business / Economy Jan 23, 2015
Draghi commits to €1.1 trillion QE plan in deflation fight
Mario Draghi led the European Central Bank into a new era with a historic pledge to buy government bonds as part of an asset-purchase program worth about €1.1 trillion ($1.3 trillion). The ECB president side-stepped German-led opposition to quantitative easing in a once-and-for-all push to ...
Business / Economy Nov 18, 2014
At odds with Krugman, economist Posen urges Abe to raise consumption tax
Adam Posen is sticking to his guns in recommending that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe raise the consumption tax. While acknowledging the levy is not likely to be raised to 10 percent as scheduled next October, Posen, the president of the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International ...
Business / Economy Sep 22, 2014
Posen warns Nikkei could crash if Abe blinks on second stage of tax hike
On the wall of economist Adam Posen's Washington office hangs a framed poster of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film classic, "Seven Samurai." The memento speaks to Posen's love of Japan, born in his days as a student and since manifested in his career, through books on ...
Business Oct 30, 2009
Japan, U.S. trail in hiking interest rates
The global monetary policy divide is widening as the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and major counterparts lag behind Norway and Australia in raising interest rates, a trend that is set to continue into 2010. While Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and BOJ Gov. ...