Asia Pacific Sep 22, 2021
Taiwan applies to join Pacific trade deal just days after China
Taiwan already has free trade deals with two of the members — New Zealand and Singapore — and has been working toward joining the trade agreement for years.
James Mayger
For James Mayger's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Business / Economy Jan 19, 2018
Despite jumpy market, Bank of Japan watchers don't expect a policy change anytime soon
Economists who follow the Bank of Japan aren't buying the idea that the central bank is nearing the point where it will begin to normalize its ultraloose monetary policy. Slightly more than half of those surveyed said they saw no chance of any change to ...
Business Jan 15, 2018
Japan's loyalty cards to provide early sneak peek at company profits
When shopping in Japan, a phrase you'll hear all the time is "Do you have a point card?" And the most common is the T-card, which can be used at hundreds of thousands of shops nationwide, from car accessory dealers to convenience stores. Half of ...
Business / Economy Dec 27, 2017
Five years of Abenomics: The good, the bad and the sluggish
Five years since Shinzo Abe came to power, the economy is much stronger, but still falls short of the revolution he pledged to deliver. Aggressive monetary policy has beaten back the deflationary malaise of previous decades and the weak yen is boosting exports, corporate profits ...
Business / Economy Apr 21, 2017
Kuroda says BOJ purchase pace to continue for some time
The Bank of Japan will continue with very accommodative monetary policy and maintain the current pace of asset purchases for some time, Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said in an interview. While Japan's economy is doing better than expected a few months ago, the inflation rate is ...
Business / Economy Mar 21, 2017
BOJ faces new challenges when stimulus measures end
While Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has underscored how much work still lies ahead, when the central bank does finally hit its inflation target and exits stimulus, it is likely to face huge balance sheet losses. Kuroda has brushed off the need to discuss ...
Business / Economy Mar 14, 2017
Nobel economist's ideas seen giving justification to delay Japan's consumption tax hike
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration has a habit of co-opting Nobel Prize-winning economists when it lays the groundwork for contentious policy decisions. It's not surprising then that the visit of Christopher Sims, a professor at Princeton University, has ignited speculation in Japan that the government ...
Business / Economy Dec 7, 2016
Economy is about to grow by ¥19.8 trillion, at least on paper
Japan's economy will grow by an amount equivalent to New Zealand's economy in the blink of an eye on Thursday. That's when the government announces the revision of gross domestic product data, using a new accounting standard. Nominal GDP was ¥500.6 trillion for fiscal year ...
Business Nov 25, 2016
Wages rise, hours fall for part-time workers
Over the last 10 years, Japan's 14 million part-time workers cut their working hours by more than 6 percent. They now work about 4.5 hours a day. That's a blow to a country that's struggling with a declining population, and to a government seeking to ...
National / Politics | DECISION 2014 Dec 8, 2014
As opposition dithers, voters mull four more years of Abe
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's chances for becoming the nation's longest-serving leader in more than four decades are increasing as the opposition finds itself hobbled by factionalism, shifting policies and funding shortages. The Dec. 14 victory in the Lower House election that the public opinion polls ...