Since I live in the same town as Capt Richard Phillips, it was of great interest to see that pacifist Japan has passed a law allowing the Japanese navy to fire on Somali pirate vessels. Japanese warships are allowed to protect any commercial ship, not just those under Japan's flag.
According to the BBC, "previously, the Japanese force was only allowed to escort Japanese vessels, or those with Japanese cargoes or crews, and use weapons only for self-defense."
Within Japan there are concerns over expanding the role of Japan's military.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/asia-pacific/2009/06/2009619124944697820.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8109242.stm
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Japan sending home Latin American workers
In an interesting twist, Japan is paying foreign workers to leave the country.
This is the same country that revised the law in 1990 to allow Japanese descendants to receive long-term resident status -something that is very hard for foreigners to get in Japan.
The Japanese aren't fond of foreign workers, so when the export industry boomed in the 1990s, they cooked up a plan to bring Japanese descendants back from Brazil and Peru to fill the jobs.
Unfortunately, the experiment didn't quite work as well as officials had hoped. The Japanese descendants were a little too, um, Latin American for Japanese tastes. Now that factories need to lay off workers it seems like a good time to shift the policy. If the workers accept the pay to leave, they must also agree not to seek work in Japan again.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/business/global/23immigrant.html?scp=1&sq=japan%20brazil%20workers&st=cse
This is the same country that revised the law in 1990 to allow Japanese descendants to receive long-term resident status -something that is very hard for foreigners to get in Japan.
The Japanese aren't fond of foreign workers, so when the export industry boomed in the 1990s, they cooked up a plan to bring Japanese descendants back from Brazil and Peru to fill the jobs.
Unfortunately, the experiment didn't quite work as well as officials had hoped. The Japanese descendants were a little too, um, Latin American for Japanese tastes. Now that factories need to lay off workers it seems like a good time to shift the policy. If the workers accept the pay to leave, they must also agree not to seek work in Japan again.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/business/global/23immigrant.html?scp=1&sq=japan%20brazil%20workers&st=cse
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
It's a matter of confidence
There's lots of reflecting going on at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
And getting to the crux of the matter, the director of the Global Security Research Institute in Keio, Japan, Heizo Takenaka, said “The current situation is something more than a financial and economic crisis,” Mr. Takenaka said. “We face a confidence crisis. Once the confidence of crisis occurs, we need a strong government and central banks.”
Any one from Japan knows of what they speak. A crisis in confidence caused their deflationary recession to last over 13 years.
Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, clearly wants to take the optimistic path. “The harsh winter will be gone and spring is around the corner,” he said.
Mr. Wen was also realistic in his assessment, noting the drop in exports and unemployment, but he was clear in his government's 2009 goal of 8% growth. With a stimulus package of 4 trillion yuan, Mr Wen talked about growing domestic demand after "years of being the workshop of the world."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/business/29econ.html
And getting to the crux of the matter, the director of the Global Security Research Institute in Keio, Japan, Heizo Takenaka, said “The current situation is something more than a financial and economic crisis,” Mr. Takenaka said. “We face a confidence crisis. Once the confidence of crisis occurs, we need a strong government and central banks.”
Any one from Japan knows of what they speak. A crisis in confidence caused their deflationary recession to last over 13 years.
Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, clearly wants to take the optimistic path. “The harsh winter will be gone and spring is around the corner,” he said.
Mr. Wen was also realistic in his assessment, noting the drop in exports and unemployment, but he was clear in his government's 2009 goal of 8% growth. With a stimulus package of 4 trillion yuan, Mr Wen talked about growing domestic demand after "years of being the workshop of the world."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/business/29econ.html
Monday, January 19, 2009
Stimulus package comparison
A lot of stimulus package numbers are being thrown around, so I'm trying to make sense of them. This is what I've come up with (for now)
Japan:
Under Aso's Cabinet: 64 trillion yen, (over US $700 billion) called "an emergency program of livelihood protection" Combined with an earlier package worked out under former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Cabinet of 11.5 trillion yen - puts total economic recovery measures at 75 trillion yen (over US $827 billion).
Addressing: the deteriorating job market and stabilizing the financial market
Specifics: offering housing to jobless people and stabilizing the financial market.
help dismissed workers such as temporary workers find housing; encourage employers to maintain employment and address problems concerning cancellations of informal job offers to students.
China
China (Nov 08) $600 billion which includes more government investment in infrastructure, tax deductions for exporters, and bigger subsidies to the poor and farmers.
China's package amounts to 14 percent of its likely gross domestic product (GDP)
US
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system: $700 billion passed in Oct 2008. The idea was that $250 billion would be used right away, $100 could be released by Pres Bush and the remaining $350 was to be released by Congressional vote (it was on January 14, 2009). What was actually released and promised, including to the car companies, goes something like this:
December 19, George W. Bush announced that he had approved to provide $13.4 billion now, with another $4 billion available in February 2009General Motors will get $9.4 billion and Chrysler $4 billion.
Separately President-elect Obama proposed as of Jan 14 '09:
$825 billion fiscal recovery plan called the American Recovery and Reinvestment plan.
$550 billion in new spending and $275 billion in tax relief middle class tax cut.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081220TDY02308.htm
Extra! January 2009
Japan:
Under Aso's Cabinet: 64 trillion yen, (over US $700 billion) called "an emergency program of livelihood protection" Combined with an earlier package worked out under former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Cabinet of 11.5 trillion yen - puts total economic recovery measures at 75 trillion yen (over US $827 billion).
Addressing: the deteriorating job market and stabilizing the financial market
Specifics: offering housing to jobless people and stabilizing the financial market.
help dismissed workers such as temporary workers find housing; encourage employers to maintain employment and address problems concerning cancellations of informal job offers to students.
China
China (Nov 08) $600 billion which includes more government investment in infrastructure, tax deductions for exporters, and bigger subsidies to the poor and farmers.
China's package amounts to 14 percent of its likely gross domestic product (GDP)
US
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system: $700 billion passed in Oct 2008. The idea was that $250 billion would be used right away, $100 could be released by Pres Bush and the remaining $350 was to be released by Congressional vote (it was on January 14, 2009). What was actually released and promised, including to the car companies, goes something like this:
December 19, George W. Bush announced that he had approved to provide $13.4 billion now, with another $4 billion available in February 2009General Motors will get $9.4 billion and Chrysler $4 billion.
Separately President-elect Obama proposed as of Jan 14 '09:
$825 billion fiscal recovery plan called the American Recovery and Reinvestment plan.
$550 billion in new spending and $275 billion in tax relief middle class tax cut.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081220TDY02308.htm
Extra! January 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Japanese consumption tax
It's strange hearing Prime Minister Aso talking about a consumption/sales tax increase in 2011.
I can see the logic in the terms of Japanese deflation fears; maybe saying things will be more expensive in two years, will incite people to buy now.
At the same time, folks need their leaders to inspire confidence and talking taxes seems more like a stick than a carrot.
I can see the logic in the terms of Japanese deflation fears; maybe saying things will be more expensive in two years, will incite people to buy now.
At the same time, folks need their leaders to inspire confidence and talking taxes seems more like a stick than a carrot.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Asian Robots
The top three countries for robot density (measured as number of industrial robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers) are all Asian - Japan (an eye popping 295), Singapore (169) and South Korea (164).
But when the regional averages are taken into consideration, Asia/Pacific falls to third place (27) behind Europe (50) and the Americas (31). This suggests that the two largest Asian countries, China and India, are way behind the curve.
When I dug a little deeper, I found 2008 numbers showing India and China significantly increased. China increased 14% from 2006 to 2007, while the industrial robot count increased by 11% in India.
See http://www.worldrobotics.org/downloads/2008_executive_summary.pdf for the full report.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/print/7012
But when the regional averages are taken into consideration, Asia/Pacific falls to third place (27) behind Europe (50) and the Americas (31). This suggests that the two largest Asian countries, China and India, are way behind the curve.
When I dug a little deeper, I found 2008 numbers showing India and China significantly increased. China increased 14% from 2006 to 2007, while the industrial robot count increased by 11% in India.
See http://www.worldrobotics.org/downloads/2008_executive_summary.pdf for the full report.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/print/7012
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Can Japanese retiree sending make up for lost exports?
I'm reading Paul Krugman's book "The Return of Depression Economics" (which has been updated to include discussion of the current crisis). Krugman devotes a chapter to Japan and points out that strong exports ultimately pulled them out of their financial turmoil.
Now, just a few years later, Japan is scrambling with lost productivity due to the huge drop in exports. This week, Prime Minister Aso announced an unprecedented budget of $980 billion to inject money into the economy. The investment in social security and pensions seems directed at Japan's large population of retirees. The question is if the infusion of cash will be enough to ease the concerns of a particularly frugal segment of the population.
http://english.aljazeera.net/business/2008/12/2008122611729888367.html
Now, just a few years later, Japan is scrambling with lost productivity due to the huge drop in exports. This week, Prime Minister Aso announced an unprecedented budget of $980 billion to inject money into the economy. The investment in social security and pensions seems directed at Japan's large population of retirees. The question is if the infusion of cash will be enough to ease the concerns of a particularly frugal segment of the population.
http://english.aljazeera.net/business/2008/12/2008122611729888367.html
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Will Tokyo intervene? Low dollar bad for Japan
As the dollar continues to drop against the yen, American exports become cheaper while Japanese exports look frightfully expensive.
With yesterday's interest rate cut to near zero, the U.S. now has a lower rate than the Japanese rate of 0.3. The interest rate cut will likely cause Japanese investors to abandon U.S. investments. According the the Wall Street Journal (12/15/08), Japan is only behind China as the world's largest investor in U.S. Treasuries.
They're not the only ones bailing. Most investors see the dollar as weak and are selling them in order to buy other currencies. (Then again, whenever the stock market takes a hit, investors run to the relative safety of the dollar and yen).
The Fed's plan to stimulate growth is to use quantitative easing, which means they are going to pour more money into the economy, even at the risk of inflation. Many economists feel that contracting the economy later in response to inflation is easier than pulling ourselves out of a deflationary situation. So their goal is to nip deflation before it spirals down.
Japan used quantitative easing in 2001 when it created money to directly buy Japanese stocks, bonds and asset-backed securities.
Will Tokyo intervene as their exports become less competitive? With the dollar at 88.78 yen, I imagine we are going to see action from Japan shortly.
The best explanation I saw of quantitative easing is from the Wall Street Journal (12/17/08): "it tackles the quantity of money in the financial system rather than its cost (the interest rate). I also translates into an increasing supply of U.S. dollars, potentially putting pressure on the currency because of an oversupply."
With yesterday's interest rate cut to near zero, the U.S. now has a lower rate than the Japanese rate of 0.3. The interest rate cut will likely cause Japanese investors to abandon U.S. investments. According the the Wall Street Journal (12/15/08), Japan is only behind China as the world's largest investor in U.S. Treasuries.
They're not the only ones bailing. Most investors see the dollar as weak and are selling them in order to buy other currencies. (Then again, whenever the stock market takes a hit, investors run to the relative safety of the dollar and yen).
The Fed's plan to stimulate growth is to use quantitative easing, which means they are going to pour more money into the economy, even at the risk of inflation. Many economists feel that contracting the economy later in response to inflation is easier than pulling ourselves out of a deflationary situation. So their goal is to nip deflation before it spirals down.
Japan used quantitative easing in 2001 when it created money to directly buy Japanese stocks, bonds and asset-backed securities.
Will Tokyo intervene as their exports become less competitive? With the dollar at 88.78 yen, I imagine we are going to see action from Japan shortly.
The best explanation I saw of quantitative easing is from the Wall Street Journal (12/17/08): "it tackles the quantity of money in the financial system rather than its cost (the interest rate). I also translates into an increasing supply of U.S. dollars, potentially putting pressure on the currency because of an oversupply."
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Japan, China, S. Korea working together?
Can the economic crisis do what the past 60+years hasn't been able to do ... namely allow three WWII scarred countries to work together? Past meetings have been merely symbolic, with distrust tainting any real outcomes.
Saturday's Fukuoka, Japan, meeting was the first ever trilateral summit. Observers may have thought the meeting was vague, with promises for stimulating the economy and committing to no new trade barriers for the next year.
Yet, just the meeting alone is significant as the three nations, who have barely tolerated one another due to residual emotion and economic rivalries, came together in solidarity.
The most specific summit outcome is that Japan and China agreed to lend foreign currency to S. Korea. S. Korea has struggled the most with the crises. The three countries comprise 75% of the east Asian economy.
The next summit is scheduled for next year in China.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/12/200812138361719177.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/world/asia/14japan.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/12/200812138361719177.html
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_TRILATERAL_SUMMIT_ASOL-?SITE=YOMIURI&SECTION=HOSTED_ASIA&TEMPLATE=ap_national.html
Saturday's Fukuoka, Japan, meeting was the first ever trilateral summit. Observers may have thought the meeting was vague, with promises for stimulating the economy and committing to no new trade barriers for the next year.
Yet, just the meeting alone is significant as the three nations, who have barely tolerated one another due to residual emotion and economic rivalries, came together in solidarity.
The most specific summit outcome is that Japan and China agreed to lend foreign currency to S. Korea. S. Korea has struggled the most with the crises. The three countries comprise 75% of the east Asian economy.
The next summit is scheduled for next year in China.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/12/200812138361719177.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/world/asia/14japan.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2008/12/200812138361719177.html
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_TRILATERAL_SUMMIT_ASOL-?SITE=YOMIURI&SECTION=HOSTED_ASIA&TEMPLATE=ap_national.html
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Sony's job cutting
The job losses announced by Sony Corp's electronic division are not just temporary worker jobs. As part of their restructuring, Sony is eliminating 16,000 jobs worldwide -- 8,000 regular jobs -- and then, 8,000 temporary workers.
Surprisingly, Sony is laying off the regular workers first ...quite a shift for a Japanese company. This cut represents 5 percent of the 160,000 worldwide workforce.
As long as the yen remains strong, Sony, and other export reliant businesses, will keep hurting. Temporary workers will allow Sony to be flexible, which is a smart move. Overall, however, this will have a huge negative effect on consumer confidence as the Japanese become excessively concerned about the safety of their jobs.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20081210TDY01304.htm
Surprisingly, Sony is laying off the regular workers first ...quite a shift for a Japanese company. This cut represents 5 percent of the 160,000 worldwide workforce.
As long as the yen remains strong, Sony, and other export reliant businesses, will keep hurting. Temporary workers will allow Sony to be flexible, which is a smart move. Overall, however, this will have a huge negative effect on consumer confidence as the Japanese become excessively concerned about the safety of their jobs.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20081210TDY01304.htm
Friday, December 5, 2008
Japan's Temporary Workers
One of the difficulties of managing Japan's 1990s economic crisis was their cultural reliance on lifetime employment. In Japan, workers devote their lives to their employer, as the company is more important than family. In return for their loyalty, workers are essentially guaranteed employment for life.
Japan ramped up temporary worker hiring in the 1990s and this employment shift was credited with helping to pull Japan out of their decade plus spiral. While helping the economy, it caused other problems. There's been a growing income divide that had been unheard of in Japan previously. (Temporary workers are paid 30-40% less than their counterparts). This divide started to cull a second class citizen mentality. Yet, many young Japanese expressed a preference for temporary work as it allowed them to dodge the responsibilities of full-time employees, such as working late each night.
Except, now that the economy is contracting again the temporary workers are the first to go.
At 3.7% Japan's unemployment rate is low compared to the U.S. rate of 6.7%. Both countries are expecting more layoffs in the upcoming months.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=ab4g.SY6x5dA&refer=japan
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Japan ramped up temporary worker hiring in the 1990s and this employment shift was credited with helping to pull Japan out of their decade plus spiral. While helping the economy, it caused other problems. There's been a growing income divide that had been unheard of in Japan previously. (Temporary workers are paid 30-40% less than their counterparts). This divide started to cull a second class citizen mentality. Yet, many young Japanese expressed a preference for temporary work as it allowed them to dodge the responsibilities of full-time employees, such as working late each night.
Except, now that the economy is contracting again the temporary workers are the first to go.
At 3.7% Japan's unemployment rate is low compared to the U.S. rate of 6.7%. Both countries are expecting more layoffs in the upcoming months.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=ab4g.SY6x5dA&refer=japan
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Monday, November 17, 2008
Japan's stimulus clarity needed
Japan officially acknowledged that the country is in a recession; its first since 2001. The decline in gross domestic product from July-September was the second consecutive quarter of negative growth -- meeting the definition of recession.
With an export-reliant economy, the corporate earnings projections aren't very rosy. The dependence on outside demand puts a spot light on Japan's need to stimulate its domestic economy.
Japan learned a great deal of lessons from the 90s and corporations have made tremendous improvements to their balance sheets. The Daily Yomiuri reported that the impact of 2007 troublesome domestic issues were acknowledged. Jesper Koll, CEO of hedge fund Tantallon Research Japan said "the domestic economy began faltering in the summer of 2007 under higher taxes and a credit crunch in the consumer finance industry. Regulatory debacles, including a massive pension scandal and confusion over new construction regulations, added to the worsening conditions."
Japan's recession is projected to continue for a few more quarters, but not to the same level as the U.S. or Europe. If the government can inject more cash and clarity into their domestic stimulus, Japan should be able to pull ahead of their peers. But to increase domestic demand, the government needs to put cash in the hands of all its citizens and provide the leadership to empower them to spend.
Sources:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_MARKETS_ASOL-?SITE=YOMIURI&SECTION=HOSTED_ASIA&TEMPLATE=ap_national.html
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_ECONOMY_ASOL-?SITE=YOMIURI&SECTION=HOSTED_ASIA&TEMPLATE=ap_national.html
Note: the yen closed Friday at 97.20 yen to the dollar.
With an export-reliant economy, the corporate earnings projections aren't very rosy. The dependence on outside demand puts a spot light on Japan's need to stimulate its domestic economy.
Japan learned a great deal of lessons from the 90s and corporations have made tremendous improvements to their balance sheets. The Daily Yomiuri reported that the impact of 2007 troublesome domestic issues were acknowledged. Jesper Koll, CEO of hedge fund Tantallon Research Japan said "the domestic economy began faltering in the summer of 2007 under higher taxes and a credit crunch in the consumer finance industry. Regulatory debacles, including a massive pension scandal and confusion over new construction regulations, added to the worsening conditions."
Japan's recession is projected to continue for a few more quarters, but not to the same level as the U.S. or Europe. If the government can inject more cash and clarity into their domestic stimulus, Japan should be able to pull ahead of their peers. But to increase domestic demand, the government needs to put cash in the hands of all its citizens and provide the leadership to empower them to spend.
Sources:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_MARKETS_ASOL-?SITE=YOMIURI&SECTION=HOSTED_ASIA&TEMPLATE=ap_national.html
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_ECONOMY_ASOL-?SITE=YOMIURI&SECTION=HOSTED_ASIA&TEMPLATE=ap_national.html
Note: the yen closed Friday at 97.20 yen to the dollar.
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