Monday 15 August 2016

Japan's economy proving policymakers wrong

It wasn't long before the Japanese economy proved contrast to policymakers belief  that exceptional stimulus measures coupled with an experimental and untested use of interest rates below zero are necessary means to break out of decades long stagnation and deflation with the latest printed figures indicating the nation's economic activity only grew 0.2%  in the second quarter of 2016, a paltry increase that's bound to pressure the government to deliver expectedly.

Having written about the topic of Japan on numerous occasions my opinion has yet to change regarding the type of policies employed by both monetary and fiscal authorities who have failed to drive the economic progression towards a better outcome.

In recent weeks we heard a bold but skeptical plan hatched by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to expand his government's budget in an effort to support the economy, a frequent past time that's featured more distinctly as evidence clearly points to policy failure having promised to save Japan from economic implosion.
His partner in crime Haruhiko Kuroda hasn't had luck either in convincing buyers in the Japanese Yen of the overstated strength they've poured into the currency in the last year. The devastating impact this is having on the country's export clearly shows up with relenting desire to derail future prospects.

However no confidence can be found when the actions of the Bank of Japan imitate that of its counterparts and vice versa with a "follow the leader" mentality attached closely with every desperate measure taken by developed world economies in a bid to save themselves. Actions which are spurring on fresh currency wars amongst each other.

If the scale of stimulus were to be increased to a larger amount than what we're witnessing currently we are certain of financial catastrophe that would overshadow the haunted past and when considering the extent to which policymakers are willing to extend monetary programs, the ease of which to reach this state is not out of grasp.

Once again it cannot be stressed enough that world leaders need to come to the realisation that the global economy doesn't require infinite amounts of money supply to move the dial but a closer look into the shifting dynamics that are having a greater effect on the economic cogs that motion the mechanisms of growth

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