BOJ to stand pat even as inflation stalls, global markets tumble -sources

A sharp slide in Japanese stocks and a rebound in the yen, driven in part by concerns about global growth, have added to headwinds for Japan’s economy

Oh please. It was just a couple of weeks back that the dollar/yen rate hit 110 and various people were complaining about how the weak yen was so terrible.

So the dollar/yen rate has since fallen back to 106, big deal - it's just your standard run of the mill market fluctuation. Central bankers never cry and cheer at each gyration as the media likes to.

Tokyo shares are down 10% from September’s seven-year high, while the dollar has slid to around 106 yen from a six-year high of 110 yen in the past two months.

Two months? In the past two weeks perhaps. The 110 high was on October 1st.

So stocks hit a high last month, the dollar/yen hit a high this month. The BOJ would be nuts to take additional easing measures in the face of this.

Some analysts warn it may slip below 1% in September due to recent sharp falls in oil prices, despite Kuroda’s assurances that price growth will stay above that level before accelerating to 2%.

Oil prices dropping is good for the most of the economy and consumers, which will contribute upwards pressure on inflation longer term if anything, I think.

The consumption tax hike is the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The decision-makers at the time were clueless as to how their actions would ripple right through the landscape, seeping into unexpected areas.

And in its wake, every move they make now - like whether the BOJ needs more stimulus - needs to be a response to the damage they themselves inflicted. We all are now paying the price of their ignorance and bluster.

JeffLeeOct. 18, 2014 - 08:08AM JSTThe decision-makers at the time were clueless as to how their actions would ripple right through the landscape, seeping into unexpected areas.

How do you prepare for 3/11? As such, Fukushima was not just a disaster for the nuclear industry or the finances of the TEPCO, but for the country and economy as a whole. The increase in fossil fuel imports and the money paid to secure them has outweighed economic growth and gains in income. The situation has been exacerbated by depreciation of the yen, which has made energy commodity price imports, much more expensive. Japan is the world’s largest importer of LNG, the second biggest importer of coal and the third largest importer of oil.

"How do you prepare for 3/11?"

3/11 isn't the major factor. The consumption tax is. It cut consumers's purchasing power right at a very fragile point of the recovery...which has since disappeared.

I'd still rather throw my chips in with Japan. The US has until 2026 until Medicare runs out and 56 million Americans die because they can't afford their medications. That's much scarier to me than Japan's economy stalling.