Japan Economics Focus What would tighter monetary policy mean for Japan? We don’t expect the Bank of Japan to tighten monetary policy meaningfully but, with inflation about to breach 2%, what if we are wrong? The direct impact of higher interest rates on the corporate... 18th May 2022 · 15 mins read
Japan Economics Focus What would it take for inflation to surge in Japan? A perfect storm of surging house prices, a further worsening of supply shortages, and a pick-up in labour mobility would be needed to cause an inflation surge in Japan. Even if inflation did reach 2%... 8th February 2022 · 17 mins read
Japan Economics Focus What does deglobalisation mean for Japan? There are good reasons to think that the natural stalling in globalisation underway won’t do much damage to Japanese manufacturers. And while an abrupt severing of supply chains between China on the... 21st September 2021 · 13 mins read
Japan Economics Focus Transition to carbon neutral 2050 wouldn’t harm growth Achieving net zero emissions in Japan in three decades is a difficult but achievable task. And while the most carbon-intensive sectors may face significant headwinds, overall we agree with PM Suga... 29th June 2021 · 30 mins read
Japan Economics Focus Sluggish inflation may boost yen further We think that inflation in Japan will remain subdued while the pandemic will result in a rise in US inflation to above the pre-virus pace. With both the Bank of Japan and Fed likely to remain inactive... 13th November 2020 · 19 mins read
Japan Economics Focus Unpacking Suganomics Japan’s incoming Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has said he will “inherit Abenomics” and has been keen to emphasise that not much will change. As such, a major shift in economic policy is not on the... 15th September 2020 · 17 mins read
Japan Economics Focus Will the pandemic hurt Japan’s long-run prospects? We do not expect the coronavirus crisis to undermine Japan’s long-term prospects. Capital accumulation will slow but there shouldn’t be a big impact on the supply of labour. And given that the... 23rd July 2020 · 21 mins read
Global Economics Focus Lasting blow to supply capacity is not inevitable It is by no means inevitable that the coronavirus crisis puts a big permanent hole in the supply capacity of economies (i.e. their ability to produce goods and services). With the right government... 29th June 2020 · 28 mins read
Japan Economics Focus Why did huge monetary stimulus not boost inflation? Premature fiscal policy tightening is part of the reason why inflation did not gain much momentum after the BoJ launched large-scale quantitative easing in 2013. But the main reason why inflation has... 23rd June 2020 · 17 mins read
Japan Economics Focus How worried should we be about regional banks? The profitability of Japan’s regional banks is likely to deteriorate further over the next few years. However, there’s little evidence of asset price bubbles and corporate balance sheets have... 19th February 2020 · 22 mins read
Japan Economics Focus How will policymakers respond to the next downturn? If the next downturn is a mild, cyclical one we would expect the Bank of Japan to cut its short-term policy rate but leave its 10-year yield target unchanged. Fiscal stimulus would probably have to do... 14th May 2019 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Focus Will productivity growth rebound? Forecasting shifts in productivity is notoriously hard but past experience suggests that the recent slowdown in productivity growth in Japan should reverse over the coming decade. Nonetheless, with... 27th June 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Focus Is the Bank of Japan finally winning? On some measures, Japan has been the strongest performing large developed economy over recent years. Growth has been unusually fast, unemployment is at historic lows and wage growth at two-decade... 23rd May 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Focus Will the BoJ abandon its 2% inflation target? Five years after Governor Kuroda embarked on aggressive policy easing, core inflation in Japan is still barely positive and the Bank of Japan seems to have run out of ideas on how to push it higher... 27th March 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Focus How much longer can the labour force grow? Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of Abenomics has been the continued increase in employment despite the contraction in the working age population. It is possible that Japan will be able to... 8th January 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Focus Will the Bank of Japan follow the Fed and the ECB? A long period of sustained economic growth has helped drive unemployment in Japan to its lowest level in nearly a quarter of a century. Nonetheless, inflation and wage growth are both barely positive... 7th December 2017 · 1 min read
