Japan Economics Weekly Why have corporate profits soared? Corporate profits have more than doubled since Prime Minister Abe returned to power. We think that this reflects a reduction in cross-shareholdings since the late 1990s and improvements in corporate... 14th June 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Pick-up in fertility too little, too late The slump in the share of young women that are married combined with the delay when women have their first child suggest that the fertility rate may at best rise from the current 1.4 to around 1.5... 8th June 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly BoJ getting more concerned about financial stability The Bank of Japan seems to be getting more concerned about the impact of low policy rates on financial stability. However, the financial system is neither unwilling to provide credit nor is credit... 1st June 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Will ageing result in a surge in the budget deficit? New projections suggest that social security spending could rise by 8% of GDP by 2040. The government has already increased social security contributions in recent years and there is some scope to... 25th May 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Weaker Q1 sets the tone for 2018 The fall in GDP last quarter should be followed by a rebound in activity in the current quarter. But with the economy running into capacity constraints, our view remains that growth will slow this... 18th May 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly How well is Japan prepared for the digital revolution? Investment in IT equipment and infrastructure has fallen in recent years and there has been no push to raise the low level of university enrolment in related subjects. Still, the country’s ICT... 11th May 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Slowdown in bank lending no cause for concern The continued slowdown in bank lending seems to vindicate the Bank of Japan’s concerns that low policy rates are undermining financial intermediation. But broader measures of credit availability... 4th May 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly How big a threat are rising hedging costs for banks? An increase in hedging costs has undermined the appeal of investing in US$ bonds for Japanese investors. This won’t affect the profitability of banks much as their holdings of foreign bonds are small... 27th April 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Policy tightening still a distant prospect The tight labour market is now boosting wage growth but not by enough to generate significant inflation. With the economy likely to slow this year, the Bank of Japan won’t be able to tighten policy... 20th April 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Will the US bully Japan into a free trade agreement? US President Trump has once again sown confusion by indicating that the US may still join the Trans Pacific Partnership. However, he indicated that this would require a renegotiation of the agreement... 13th April 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Business investment will continue to impress The early indications point to a fall in capital spending in Q1. However, mounting capacity and staff shortages suggest that spending on machinery and equipment will continue to grow faster than... 6th April 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Might the labour market be looser than it appears? There is a plausible argument that widespread “underemployment” of employees who would like to work longer hours means that labour market conditions in Japan are not as tight as the historically-low... 29th March 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Escaping demographic destiny The conventional wisdom is that population ageing results in a falling savings rate and rising interest rates. Yet Japan, despite the high average age of its population, runs a sizeable current... 23rd March 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Sluggish wage growth to prevent BoJ from tightening We wouldn’t read too much into the early results of this year’s spring wage negotiations, which showed that the large carmakers and electronic firms lifted base pay by less than in 2014 and 2015. But... 16th March 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Yen strength another stumbling block for BoJ The yen would have to strengthen much further before it turns into a major drag on export competitiveness and corporate profits. However, the recent appreciation should bring the pick-up in goods... 9th March 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Is this it? Dismal industrial production and weak consumer spending figures for January suggest that Japan’s longest period of uninterrupted expansion since the late 1980s will come to an end this quarter. We... 2nd March 2018 · 1 min read
