If only all our public servants were as devoted as Haruhiko Kuroda. The Bank of Japan governor remains committed to reaching his inflation-rate target of 2 percent, even though five years of unprecedented monetary stimulus haven't gotten him close. Kuroda, undeterred, recently told the Diet that he now thinks he can attain his perennially elusive goal by 2019, and only then will the central bank consider an exit from its unorthodox policies.
Kuroda deserves kudos for sheer perseverance. But it's high time that he give up on this dream. Not only will he never reach his target — he doesn't need to.
No matter how fiercely Kuroda holds course, evidence is mounting that pushing the inflation rate up to 2 percent is a near-impossibility. The BOJ's assets have more than tripled over the past five years as it bought bonds on a huge scale in the hopes of suppressing long-term interest rates and boosting prices. The economy, running hot in recent quarters, has been facing serious constraints on capacity and labor.