With the US economy emerging out of recession, a big question will be what happens to the labour market. The US continues to record job losses every month, despite signs that real GDP is returning to positive growth, and while unemployment tends to be a lagging indicator, BMI’s Tim Cooper notes that underlying structural shifts… [Read more]
Happy Labor Day! Well, it may be a happy Labor Day for US residents who are employed in well-remunerated, full-time, enjoyable jobs. Just as I thought – I don’t see many hands going up. And judging from the non-farm payrolls data released last Friday, much of the workforce has little to be cheerful about. In… [Read more]
Despite the historical significance of the DPJ’s landslide election victory on August 30, the new government will face the enormous challenge of reforming Japan’s bureaucracy. Yoel Sano from BMI’s Asia desk believes it will take a long time before the economy will reap the benefits of this historic change.
Most governments around the world seek to maximise economic growth so that their countries can achieve a higher level of development and their citizens can become wealthier. At the same time, they must be mindful that growth does not bring with it inflation. However there is a major exception to these axioms: Japan. While Japan… [Read more]
I pity Kaoru Yosano, who has just succeeded Shoichi Nakagawa as Japan’s new finance minister. Nakagawa was forced to resign on Tuesday after delivering a Sylvester Stallone-like performance at a press conference following the G7 summit over the weekend (the comparison is somewhat harsh on Stallone). Nakagawa was widely perceived to be drunk, although his… [Read more]
