• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Japan's Inflation Rate Doubles!!

I'm sad to hear that.

With the American and Japanese economies going down hill, this will have repercussions throughout the world.

Of course, if it's any consolation for you, I buy a lot of stuff from Japan, and this will probably make them cheaper for me! First stuff from the US is nearly free, and now this! If there's a god out there, he loves this Norwegian.
 
Oh, don't cry for me, Ryokan. I was being a little bit overly dramatic. :dqueen:

Here's what the link said:
Japan's Inflation Rate Doubles to 0.8% as Oil Surges
Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's inflation rate doubled in December to the fastest in more than nine years, as companies passed rising oil and commodity costs to consumers.

Core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food, climbed 0.8 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo.
Click to expand...
 
Puppycow said:
Oh, don't cry for me, Ryokan. I was being a little bit overly dramatic. :dqueen:

Here's what the link said:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I read the link. But I'm not initiated in the mystic arts of economonics. For all I know, an inflation rate of 0,8% could bring about the end of the world.

The article also mentioned that the price of food and power was rising, while wages were falling. As I said, I have very little knowledge about economics, but this does not sound like a very good thing.

So, anyway, hang in there! がんばて!
 
Ryokan said:
Yeah, I read the link. But I'm not initiated in the mystic arts of economonics. For all I know, an inflation rate of 0,8% could bring about the end of the world.

The article also mentioned that the price of food and power was rising, while wages were falling. As I said, I have very little knowledge about economics, but this does not sound like a very good thing.

So, anyway, hang in there! がんばて!
Click to expand...

がんばります！

I reread the artice. I guess it said that wages rose in only 2 of the last 11 months, but I didn't see any concrete figure for the year (my own wages rose a little). Another article says that Japan's economy is expected to grow 1.3% this year, which is sluggish, but now the population of Japan is actually falling (has been since 2005) so I think in per capita terms it's probably OK. 0.8% inflation seems to be pretty good to me. Better than deflation. BTW, the article said that if you exclude food and energy, prices actually fell by 0.1%. So-called "core prices" (excluding food and energy) have been falling for 9 years now.
 
So no chance of the yen plummeting like the dollar then? Shame. For me, that is :p
 
Ryokan said:
So no chance of the yen plummeting like the dollar then? Shame. For me, that is :p
Click to expand...

I don't know about that. They try very hard to make the yen track the dollar without actually pegging it to the dollar. So if the dollar falls against your currency (what is it, BTW?) the yen will probably fall, too, but maybe not quite as much.
 
Last edited:
Japan is unusual in including energy in its "core inflation" measure--I think most countries exclude both food and energy. What that means is that I don't think there is an effect hitting Japanese consumer prices that isn't also being felt elsewhere. I suspect there's not much chance of the Bank of Japan taking any notice of this statistic right now and, say, raising interest rates.
 
neutrino_cannon said:
Is anyone there comparing it to what happened in the 80's?
Click to expand...

The bubble? Hardly.

acuity said:
Japan is unusual in including energy in its "core inflation" measure--I think most countries exclude both food and energy. What that means is that I don't think there is an effect hitting Japanese consumer prices that isn't also being felt elsewhere. I suspect there's not much chance of the Bank of Japan taking any notice of this statistic right now and, say, raising interest rates.
Click to expand...

Actually it seems like they are more likely to cut rates than raise them.
Whenever the Fed lowers interest rates, they say the BOJ can't raise rates while the Fed is doing the opposite
Reduced Bets

Investors reduced bets that the central bank will lower the key lending rate from 0.5 percent later this year. There's a 43 percent chance of a cut by July, down from 67 percent before the inflation report, according to calculations by JPMorgan Chase & Co. using overnight interest-rate swaps.

``The market's been underestimating the BOJ's focus on inflation,'' said Jan Lambregts, head of Asian research at Rabobank International in Hong Kong. ``An actual rate cut could produce an increase in inflation expectations, which would only act to depress the consumer further.''
Click to expand...

I'm rooting for low rates as my 5-year fixed rate mortgage goes variable this summer. If long-term rates are still low, I can lock in good rates again. I'm beginning to think this BOJ "zero-rate" policy is not temporary like they claimed but may be semi-permanent for various reasons including the deflationary pressure and the size of the government debt. Excluding energy and food, it's been nine years of deflation now.
 
Last edited:
Puppycow said:
Actually it seems like they are more likely to cut rates than raise them.
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree.
I'm beginning to think this BOJ "zero-rate" policy is not temporary like they claimed but may be semi-permanent for various reasons including the deflationary pressure and the size of the government debt. Excluding energy and food, it's been nine years of deflation now.
Click to expand...
Yes. Also Japan's demographics (about which you've written elsewhere) suggest a very low rate of trend real growth which would indicate low / zero inflation and low/zero interest rates too. The problem with this is the rising proportion of savers in Japan's population (elderly) who really don't like the ultra-low yields very much. (Though they must be getting used to them)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom