Japans GDP Unexpectedly Shrinks in Q3

[IsaacNewton]

I wish good luck to Japan.

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

Perhaps the GDP went down due to unnecessary , war mongering by Japan and threatening Russia. Not to mention throwing away 30 billion dollars into India again not needed specially since Japanese economy needed that money locally

Because how else can you explain it , world is doing well , people are buying cars and buying Sony Playstations and people are watching Japanese anime and buying bulk load stuff from Japan

Quite shocking considering so many people buying Toyota / Honda and other stuff

Japan really should have stayed neutral member in world

$30 billion is over a period of 5 years i.e $6 billion every year.

and yes $6 billion for next years is going to have significant impact on Japanese economy which has $1.2 trillion in forex and $4.7 trilion GDP

 

[conworldus]

Printing money doesn't work, what a shocker!

Japan is toast and Abe Shinzo can resign now. Oh wait, they are going to blame China.

Abe will be remembered as the Scammer in Chief in the Abenomics Scheme.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Printing money doesn't work, what a shocker!

Japan is toast and Abe Shinzo can resign now. Oh wait, they are going to blame China.

Abe will be remembered as the Scammer in Chief in the Abenomics Scheme.

Instead of fixing their messing economy, the right-wing hotheads are now considering to start a war against China, because they are still deluding about PRC being just another Qing Dynasty.

 

[TaiShang]

Wouldn't it be hilarious if some of the biggest "China collapse" story peddlers were false flaggers actually on the Chinese government payroll? Not only would they be making certain Westerners complacent with their constant stream of "China weak!" stories, they'd be ripping them off for tons of money too.

Indeed, for one, being an anti-China Chinese expert in the West, with correct credentials and right connection, can bring in tons of benefits. Probably some of these guys' strings are hold by China for two practical purposes as mentioned by you: 1. Cash. 2. Complacence.

Gordon Chang is undoubtedly a brilliant business person. He hates China but he also knows that his audience does as well. So he writes what they want to hear and charges them handsomely for it. Never mind that he's been consistently wrong on China for decades. His audience doesn't care about that. They want the "China doom and gloom" to keep coming because it makes them feel less scared about a world that's changing around them. This kind of complacency actually benefits China and hastens the demise of the very world that those types of Westerners want to be told is still thriving.

That's one of the best posts that I have read on this forum so far.

Abe is a total fool. Rather than antagonize China at a time where Japan is economically and strategically weakening, he should have worked more closely with China. The island dispute was the last thing China or Japan needed. The dispute should have stayed on the back burner but no, nationalistic Abe and his cronies had to push the issue (rather than smoothing things out after Ishihara started the whole mess) and now look at where we are.

Maybe, secretly, the Japanese government wished to stop China's economic rise by bringing the region in turmoil and distracting the government in Beijing from its focus on economy and unnecessarily spending funds that could otherwise be channeled to more the real economy.

Besides, the whole islands saga seemed to consolidate US military grip in the region, which Japan perceives the only way to stop China. On that matter, Abe has actually managed to reinforce US strategic presence in Japan and surrounding areas, but, that came at the cost of an economy. Good grief! US can bring in many shiny metals and charge you a premium on it (see, host country support); but US cannot bring economic development to Japan.

Abe appears to have realized that but it might be too late. While all others are signing FTAs with China, what is Japan really doing?

 

[Raphael]

What a surprise - voodoo economics doesn't work. What Japan needs is real fiscal reform from the government - the BoJ has already done all (all the harm) it can.

 

[terranMarine]

@TaiShang
What's Japan doing? Still having issues with US on TPP. Also Abe seems to have switched strategy in dealing with China for he has no other great option considering Japan's economic status. No wonder he bowed down and wishes to improve trade relations with China.

 

[TaiShang]

@TaiShang
What's Japan doing? Still having issues with US on TPP. Also Abe seems to have switched strategy in dealing with China for he has no other great option considering Japan's economic status. No wonder he bowed down and wishes to improve trade relations with China.

We would need to wait and see what "concrete" proposals PM Abe has. Handshakes are all fine but Japan cannot reduce the tension by simply offering greater economic alignment. China-Japan discord is more strategic than economic (bilateral trade is already over 300billion USD). What can PM Abe offer to China on that matter.

As I believe, the largest thorn in China-JP relations is the US military presence and the scope of Japan's cooperation for not only national defence, but, specific US military offence. Apparently, the US military in Japan is not purely defence oriented, more than that, they receive extensive offence training.

I would not expect Japan to ask the US to leave Japan entirely, but, they can ask them to reformulate their military doctrine in Japan one of from offensive to pure defensive.

 

[Aepsilons]

As I've mentioned before, the Japanese people are diligent and hardworking. But their government ...sometimes their government spends money like a drunken sailor. The peoples money, that is.

I don't even know why Abe wants to raise taxes yet again. Currently, its not in the best interest to be raising taxes as this will hurt consumer spending.

 

[AgentOrange]

I don't even know why Abe wants to raise taxes yet again. Currently, its not in the best interest to be raising taxes as this will hurt consumer spending.

Who's his economic adviser/who's the in charge of economics in his cabinet? AFAIK, Abe has decided to temporarily forgo the tax hike, not because of consumer spending, but because he doesn't want his popularity hurt before snap elections?

What's Abe's popularity like in Japan now? In your opinion, are people still confident in his leadership? As you can tell from my posts, obviously I'm no Abe fan but it's not up to people like me.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

I don't even know why Abe wants to raise taxes yet again. Currently, its not in the best interest to be raising taxes as this will hurt consumer spending.

Japan slips into surprise recession, paves way for tax delay, snap poll| Reuters

Reuters is reporting that a tax hike is most certainly not in the cards for the near future, but increased political squabbling is and this is also unhealthy for a nation's economy. With consumer spending already stagnant, an increase in sales taxes will only exacerbate the problems by driving down sales and consumption. It's a lose-lose scenario.

 

[terranMarine]

I don't even know why Abe wants to raise taxes yet again. Currently, its not in the best interest to be raising taxes as this will hurt consumer spending.

Chinese members here have long foreseen Abenomics isn't gonna be the silver bullet, raising tax is even ridiculous. He has postponed it due to election i suppose so lets see what will happen after that. Will increase of trade between China and Japan really solve Japan's problem? I remain skeptical

 

[Aepsilons]

What's Abe's popularity like in Japan now? In your opinion, are people still confident in his leadership? As you can tell from my posts, obviously I'm no Abe fan but it's not up to people like me.

To be honest, i'm just perplexed. His popularity is dropping back home. Aish....

My current feelings on Abe right now: Oy Vey!

 

[Galad]

Japan GDP Unexpectedly Shrinks in Q3

It is entirely expectable .Abe "miracle" or whos-know-how many arrows strategy has failed as predicted.Japan needs reforms in order to achieve something.It certainly does not need neither Abe "miracles" neither never-ending BoJ massive QE with very questionable for real economy results..At this rate Japan is more likely to share same fate as Weimar Republic not to firmly step on road of real GDP growth.

 

[Aepsilons]

Chinese members here have long foreseen Abenomics isn't gonna be the silver bullet, raising tax is even ridiculous. He has postponed it due to election i suppose so lets see what will happen after that. Will increase of trade between China and Japan really solve Japan's problem? I remain skeptical

The snap elections he wants to carry is to increase his power base, but for me, personally speaking, he has to really re-think his fiscal policy. Improving ties with China will definitely help, i mean, since the maritime row in 2012, investments in China has decreased, and Chinese consumption of Japanese goods has been affected. Perhaps its just best to tone it down on all this nationalistic rhetoric and nationalism. Its just not...good for business.