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Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2019

U.S. Federal Reserve cuts interest rates for first time since 2008

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday the first interest rate cut since the financial crisis was to "insure against downside risks" but didn't signal the start of a lengthy easing cycle, drawing a sharp rebuke from President Donald Trump.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 23, 2019

Double Japanese general election looks more realistic as unpopular tax hike approaches

For the ruling coalition, a snap election would be a major gamble because it would put its current supermajority in both chambers at risk.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Nov 27, 2018

The big winner from Carlos Ghosn's arrest? His protege at Nissan

Long before the downfall of his mentor Carlos Ghosn, Nissan Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa had pushed to win more power for the Japanese carmaker in its strained alliance with Renault SA. Now he has a chance to do just that.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2018

Eyeing Brexit cliff edge, Japan waves goodbye to U.K. as 'gateway to Europe'

After a February meeting between U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and 19 Japanese business chiefs, Tokyo's ambassador to Britain warned what might happen if Brexit took an unfavorable turn for foreign investors.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2018

Fintech can address Asia's inequality

Innovations in finance technology can increase the level of access to capital and financial inclusion in Asia.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2018

Asia's central banks should prepare to raise interest rates

As the global economic recovery gains momentum, the time has come to begin tightening monetary policy.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 7, 2016

Japan's taxman sticks his OAR in, looking for leviable expat assets held abroad

Experts answer readers' queries about the overseas assets reporting law aimed at taxing wealth held outside Japan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2016

Pension giant GPIF confirms it lost ¥5.3 trillion on stock market bets in '15

The decline in global markets spelled bad news for its controversial shift from Japanese government bonds to equities.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2016

Abe delays tax hike weeks before election

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday announced he is pushing back a second-stage hike in the consumption tax, from April next year to October of 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2016

Managing debt in our overleveraged world

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, austerity and balance-sheet repair have been the watchwords of the global economy. And yet today, more than ever, debt is fueling concern about growth.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 20, 2016

China ousts securities regulator following renewed market turmoil

The head of China's securities regulator has been removed from his post, Xinhua reported, following last year's $5 trillion fall in the stock market, an unprecedented government rescue and a renewed crisis as plunging Chinese equities last month reverberated around the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2016

The chorus against the posh boys grows louder

The global elites' competence and moral legitimacy are being questioned like never before.
Reference / Q&A
Apr 15, 2015

Is China-led bank a lost opportunity?

China's proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is causing a stir as the majority of Group of 20 leading economies sign on as founding members, while the U.S. and Japan remain on the sidelines.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 9, 2015

It's time for troubled Sharp to sink or swim

Continuing to prop up complacent Japanese companies deadens the creative destruction that chastens stagnant industries and makes way for innovative and new ones.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2014

Ukraine's frozen war brings big changes to global economy

The durability of September's truce between the Ukrainian Army and its pro-Russian rebel opponents suggests that relations between Kiev and Moscow are gradually reverting toward an uneasy form of peaceful coexistence.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SYMPOSIUM ON EUROZONE
Nov 11, 2014

Europe, Japan face similar problems

Europe and Japan may want to learn from each other when it comes to dealing with mounting government debt, opportunities for the Japanese food industry, whether Japan and Britain should strengthen their ties in trade and consumption tax increases.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2013

Pros and cons of continuing the money ride for the rich

It is time for the Fed to understand that the U.S., too, is part of the global economy and to consider whether it should continue running its money ride for the rich — aka quantitative easing.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 22, 2013

Busting a myth: Lehman wasn't too big to fail and didn't cause recession

To many people, the 2008-09 financial crisis was a complex, fast-moving news story and an anagram-laden, horrifying collapse. Such events often give rise to false histories, myths and ideologically driven narratives.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2013

IMF says so far, so good with easing by central banks

Global central banks, including the Bank of Japan, buying assets and keeping interest rates low to boost growth have had "positive short-term effects for banks" even as risks from the policies are increasing, the International Monetary Fund said.
JAPAN
May 26, 2012

Successful comedian apologizes for leaving his mom on welfare

Junichi Komoto, a member of the popular comedian duo Jicho Kacho, apologized Friday for letting his mother continue to receive welfare benefits after his career took off.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2011

Debt deal reveals empty toolbox

When President Barack Obama signed into law the bill increasing the debt ceiling to $16.7 trillion, Americans might have breathed a sigh of relief that the danger of default is over — for now (and probably until spring 2013).
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2011

¥350 billion crisis loan eyed for Chubu Electric

Chubu Electric Power Co., operator of the suspended Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, may receive emergency loans worth ¥350 billion from government and private lenders.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2011

Shirakawa plays up recovery signs

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said Monday the nation's economy is recovering and performing relatively well compared with other economies.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 30, 2010

Katayama: Empowering local governments is key

From the time he started his career as an official at the old Home Affairs Ministry, and then as governor of Tottori Prefecture, Yoshihiro Katayama has been pushing for decentralization of government power.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic