Tag Archives: Japan

Japan is about to walk the plank again when it follows through on a previous government decision to increase the consumption tax by a further 2 per cent on October 1, 2019. That means it rises from 8 per cent to 10 per cent. The latest fiscal documents suggest the government is hyper-sensitive to the historical experience, which tells us that each time they have fallen prey to the deficit terrorists who have bullied them into believing that their fiscal position is about to collapse,...

At least to this observer, Europe and the U.S. bring to mind the fumbling and growing desperation that Japan went through during the long period of political instability before strongman Abe arrived. To turn modern monetary theory into practice, you need functioning and decisive fiscal coordination and plans that go beyond the expediencies of annual budget cycles or election cycle pork-barreling. No fiscal policy vision, no fiscal dominance... make no mistake! Abe-Aso-Kuroda do know what...

But the impact of the tax hike on the economy remains uncertain, and numerous experts have already said it may lead to further stagnation. The country is in the middle of an economic downturn, they say, and the tax increase will only worsen low inflation.Some U.S. scholars agree. "Taxes are for subtraction and to remove spending power from someone," said Stephanie Kelton, a professor of economics and public policy at Stony Brook University. Kelton, a leading MMT advocate, criticized the...

Modern monetary theory (MMT) has recently gained prominence in light of doubts about the effectiveness of monetary policy in addressing economic shortfalls. This column assesses the implications of implementing the theory’s policy prescriptions, and the challenges it presents in the case of Japan – an economy that some have argued has already been subject to such policy. Japan’s labour shortages and low inflation mean modern monetary theory’s fiscal stimulus suggestions may be harder to...

Stephanie Kelton is in Japan talking up MMT. This is a basic post with no negatives. More progress.Nippon.com (Japan)No Problem with Japan's Huge Debts: MMT Advocate Kelton

In recent days the international policy-making elite has tried to distance itself from MMT, often going to hysterical extremes to dismiss the approach as crazy. No one does this better than the Japanese. As MMT began to gather momentum, its developers began to receive a flood of calls from reporters around the world enquiring whether Japan serves as the premier example of a country that follows MMT policy recommendations. My answer is always the same: No. Japan is the perfect case to...

L. Randall Wray In recent days the international policy-making elite has tried to distance itself from MMT, often going to hysterical extremes to dismiss the approach as crazy. No one does this better than the Japanese. As MMT began to gather momentum, its developers began to receive a flood of calls from reporters around the world enquiring whether Japan serves as the premier example of a country that follows MMT policy recommendations. My answer is always the same: No. Japan is the...

The debates about MMT are expanding. There are weird offerings springing up each day. I read something yesterday about how MMT is really just Marxism in disguise and therefore a plot to overthrow entrepreneurship. Well in a socialist society there will still be a monetary system! Most of the critiques just get to their point quickly – MMT is about wild printing presses undermining the value of the currency! That should summarise 25 years of our work nicely. But there are also other...

President Trump banned a CNN reporter only to find his position overturned by the judicial system. Well CNN is guilty of at least one thing – publishing misleading and alarmist economic reports about Japan. In a CNN Business article last week (November 13, 2018) – Japan’s economy has a $5 trillion problem – readers were told that the Bank of Japan has no “dwindling options to juice growth if a new crisis hits” because “it’s now sitting on assets worth more than the country’s entire...

By Marc Chandler (originally published at Marc to Market) The US Treasury International Capital report for the month of November 2017 was released yesterday.  It showed that the two largest foreign holders of US Treasuries, China and Japan, were net sellers.  China sold about $12.6 bln and Japan sold about $9 bln of US Treasuries.  Foreign investors sold $6.4 bln of Treasuries, meaning that...