TOE
Consumption, income, inflation Drop in October
written by Richard Katz on December 01, 2014
In October, core inflation—excluding the effect of the consumption tax hike—fell to a rate of 0.9%, price-adjusted income and consumption both fell to levels sharply below year-earlier levels, although there were up from September.
TOE Alert: Election Likely to Buttress Abe - for a while
written by Richard Katz on November 26, 2014
Abe likely to gain clout from elections--temporarily.
TOE Alert: Abe Facing Down MOF-BOJ Over Tax Delay
written by Richard Katz on November 14, 2014
From everything we hear, Abe is determined not only to call the early elections we discussed in our Nov. 11 Alert, but he is equally determined to postpone the next hike in the consumption tax from October 2015. Most likely he will postpone it until April 2017.
TOE Alert: Abe Almost Certain to Call Snap Election, Delay Second Tax Hike
written by Richard Katz on November 11, 2014
Abe almost certain to call snap election for Lower House and delay hike in the consumption tax.
TOE Alert: Abe approval down again, so are real wages, TPP delayed, BOJ infighting, etc.
written by Richard Katz on November 10, 2014
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
written by Richard Katz on November 07, 2014
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
written by Richard Katz on November 05, 2014
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
written by Richard Katz on November 04, 2014
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.
Abe Poll Ratings Resume Plunge, Part 3
written by Richard Katz on October 29, 2014
Abe’s falling approval ratings make him even more cautious on restarting the nuclear power plants in the face of the two-thirds of the public that opposes restarts,
Abe Poll Ratings Resume Plunge, Part 2
written by Richard Katz on October 28, 2014
As we detailed in yesterday’s Alert, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s approval ratings have resume the steady slide that was temporarily interrupted by the Cabinet reshuffle in September. We suspect that his support remains “a mile wide and an inch deep.” If there were a solid alternative, either inside the LDP or from the opposition parties, we suspect his approval ratings would be even lower.
