Excellent, Richard. You have done my homework for me. If I may ask: Will coercive wage hike-by-jawboning measures work? Since even big, cash-rich companies don't believe they can justify big wage hikes in the long term, aren't they just effectively bowing to pressure to fork out some of the cash they have hoarded to weather an uncertain future? Even if the big boys can do this to avoid be targeted for ijime by the bureaucrats, many small- and midsize companies face certain death if they raise their wages too high. The central problem is that nobody, not the LDP, not METI, not the MOF, not the Keidanran, not the Shokokai, believes in Japan's future. In this milieu, trying to jawbone up wages is almost suicidal, I think. Personally, I would prefer to see a new focus on making consumer goods cheaper, which makes a stagnant wage go much further. The mantra of eternal growth does not apply to Japan's demographic situation, I think. Japan's economy needs to learn how to enjoy getting smaller. In this, they could become an OECD leader.
No the BOJ risks being a partner in inflating an equity bubble leading to another round of deflation as it the bubble is burst.Just have to see if the NIKKEI rally has feet of steel or clay and time to raise the cost of capital
Excellent, Richard. You have done my homework for me. If I may ask: Will coercive wage hike-by-jawboning measures work? Since even big, cash-rich companies don't believe they can justify big wage hikes in the long term, aren't they just effectively bowing to pressure to fork out some of the cash they have hoarded to weather an uncertain future? Even if the big boys can do this to avoid be targeted for ijime by the bureaucrats, many small- and midsize companies face certain death if they raise their wages too high. The central problem is that nobody, not the LDP, not METI, not the MOF, not the Keidanran, not the Shokokai, believes in Japan's future. In this milieu, trying to jawbone up wages is almost suicidal, I think. Personally, I would prefer to see a new focus on making consumer goods cheaper, which makes a stagnant wage go much further. The mantra of eternal growth does not apply to Japan's demographic situation, I think. Japan's economy needs to learn how to enjoy getting smaller. In this, they could become an OECD leader.
To what extent may the BOJ have succumbed to pressure from other central banks in major markets around the world to change policy?
No the BOJ risks being a partner in inflating an equity bubble leading to another round of deflation as it the bubble is burst.Just have to see if the NIKKEI rally has feet of steel or clay and time to raise the cost of capital