Commentary / World Mar 3, 2021
by Koichi Hamada
While Lawrence Summers may be overstating the inflation threat, a careful review of Joe Biden’s stimulus plan along the lines he proposes is probably a good idea.
Commentary / World Feb 13, 2021
History tells us to worry about inflation
by Ferdinando Giugliano
One cannot assume that the near future will be like the recent past. The post-pandemic world will offer a first test of whether low inflation is here to stay.
Business / Economy Apr 3, 2020
Coronavirus threatens revival of Japan's deflationary nemesis
by Leika Kihara
Years after Japan made a cautious recovery from its long deflationary spell, the world's third-largest economy may be headed back into a cycle of falling prices as the coronavirus threatens a deep downturn and policymakers struggle for options. A return to deflation would be a ...
Business / Economy Mar 19, 2020
Japan inflation rate slowed to 0.6% in February as virus shock spread
Japan's inflation rate slowed down to 0.6 percent in February from a year earlier, reflecting decreases in crude oil prices and concerns over global economic growth due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, government data showed Thursday. The nationwide core consumer ...
Business Jan 24, 2020
Core consumer inflation ticked up in December, but remained far short of BOJ's 2% target
Core consumer prices rose in December from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, climbing from the previous month, but inflation was still well short of the Bank of Japan's elusive 2 percent target. The lackluster data, which was also boosted by a sales ...
Commentary / World Jan 3, 2020
Does inattention explain today's low inflation?
by Koichi Hamada
In the 1980s and 1990s, people were acutely aware of inflationary risks, whereas economic actors today may be setting their expectations based on a different set of considerations.
Business / Economy Dec 27, 2019
Deepening negative rates would do more harm than good, says Bank of Japan ex-deputy
by Leika Kihara and Yoshifumi Takemoto
The Bank of Japan has nearly exhausted its policy ammunition for boosting the economy, as deepening negative interest rates — seen as the most likely step if it were to expand stimulus — will do more harm than good, former BOJ Deputy Gov. Toshiro ...
Business / Economy Dec 20, 2019
Japan's inflation up 0.5% in November, as tax boosts cost of dining out
Core consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in November from a year earlier, affected by the consumption tax hike that increased the cost of dining out, but the pace of inflation remained far below the Bank of Japan's 2 percent target, government data showed Friday. The ...
Business / Economy Dec 17, 2019
Bank of Japan's next move will be to dial back stimulus, most economists now say
The Bank of Japan's next move will be to dial back its massive stimulus, according to an increasing number of polled analysts, reflecting receding market expectations of imminent monetary easing by the central bank. But any such withdrawal of stimulus will begin in 2021 at ...
Business Dec 10, 2019
Paul Volcker, the towering former Federal Reserve chairman who tamed U.S. inflation in the 1980s and decades later inspired tough Wall Street reforms in the wake of the global financial crisis, died Monday at the age of 92, according to his daughter, Janice Zima. Volcker, ...
Business / Economy Dec 9, 2019
'Japanification' — The scourge threatening to go global in 2020
by John Ainger, Vivien Lou Chen and Ruth Carson
First it was Japan. Then Europe. Now investors are scanning the world for the next outbreak of stagnant inflation and tumbling yields. The malaise of "Japanification" burst into the mainstream this year, leaving in its wake a record amount of negative-yielding debt. Quantitative easing and ...