BOJ
TOE Alert: Abe approval down again, so are real wages, TPP delayed, BOJ infighting, etc.
Abe’s approval ratings fell again; in the NHK poll, approval was down to 44% while disapproval was up to 38%.
Kuroda’s “Hail Mary” pass
In the face of a growing loss of faith in the Bank of Japan’s ability to either achieve its 2% inflation target in the foreseeable future or to help boost real growth—and even snarky passages in the press about BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda “stealthily extending the deadline for exiting deflation”—Kuroda threw a “Hail Mary” pass.
BOJ Doubles down to Save Credibility, Part 2
Kuroda’s actions may have been triggered by a draft report by the BOJ staff reportedly projecting a large downward revision in expected inflation in fiscal 2015; in the end the BOJ made a small downward revision.
BOJ Doubles down to Save Credibility, Part 1
In the face of growing loss of faith in the Bank of Japan’s ability to either achieve its 2% inflation target in the foreseeable future or to help boost real growth, Kuroda doubled down his strategy of lots of confident talk and even more money-creation.
Incipient LDP/SME Revolt Against First Arrow
When some powerful leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) complain that the “First Arrow” of Abenomics (monetary ease and yen deprecation) is causing more harm than good, you know that the credibility of Abenomics has reached a turning point. And when this coincides with an indicator from the Cabinet Office that suggests the risk of an out-and-out recession following the April hike in the consumption tax, then you know that the bloom is really off the rose.
Japan GDP Revisions Called "Horrendous"
Consensus forecasts for japan GDP for FY2014 downgraded to 0.4% from 1%.