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As I write this, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has just announced that it will stand pat on its monetary policy. In the initial reaction, the yen/$ dropped three points to 131.2. The ten-year JGB dropped from 0.506% yesterday to 0.380%, but it remains to be seen whether that is due to BOJ intervention in the bond market. I will wait to see more of the market reaction before commenting.

Today (Jan. 17) in its editorial on BOJ policy, the Wall Street Journal cited my writings. Here is the link, which you should be able to open even without a subscription. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-bank-of-japans-moment-of-truth-monetary-policy-haruhiko-kuroda-richard-katz-11673915630?st=g8dm2mgtau8pa57&reflink=share_mobilewebshare

(There is a small mistake in the editorial that may be due to confusing wording on my part. The figure for 37% of all loans charging less than 0.5% refers to all bank loans, not just business loans.)

By coincidence, on the same day, it ran my letter to the editor disagreeing with an op-ed it ran on BOJ policy. Here’s the link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/bank-of-japan-money-supply-inflation-m-milton-friedman-11673648099?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

The op-ed was co-written with John Greenwood, whom I debated on Econvue about the same issue. Here’s a link to the audio debate:

Japan Economy Watch

Audio Debate On Japan’s Inflation, Interest Rates, and Low Growth

Source: Bank of Japan This audio (URL at the bottom) presents a debate sponsored by Econvue between John Greenwood and myself on why Japan’s interest rates have been so low for so long and why deflation and low inflation have been so persistent. Greenwood’s view is classic monetarism: that inflation is always a function of growth in the money supply, tha…

3 months ago · 12 likes · 6 comments · Richard Katz

Japan Economy Watch

WSJ Editorial Cites My Writings on BOJ…