Sigh, when will all this madness end? It will end when one, or, all of us hit bottom. It’s well past time for the world to acknowledge the people we’ve entrusted our economies to don’t know wtf they’re doing. And, all the cheerleading by the leftist media only exacerbates the problem, which is, the willful causing of harm to humanity.
I was going to write something different, but, this is it in a microcosm …. in other words, these problems are not specific to Japan, but, Japan is a fine example of the malicious idiocy the central bankers, politicians, and other useless scumbags are engaged in …….
Here’s a happy headline for the poor people in Japan!!!!
Japan inflation edges up as BOJ keeps policy unchanged
Yea!!!!! Japan’s on a winning track now!!!
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s core inflation rate edged up in March and unemployment eased slightly, according to data released Friday, offering glimmers of promise for the world’s No. 3 economy as it struggles to get growth back on track after years of stagnation.
Though a decline in factory output and other key measures were less encouraging, the central bank kept its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged in a policy meeting Thursday. Some investors and analysts expected additional stimulus to be announced.
Inflation offers a glimmer of promise ….. 😐 Ultra-loose monetary policy is what caused the inflation ….. it wasn’t demand for goods and services being greater than the costs. Causing inflation for the sake of inflation, without adding any value to anything isn’t a good thing, it’s a horrible thing! In Japan’s case, it’s worse. They actually had inflation while declining their factory output!
Oh, but, there’s more to the story!!!! …..
The central bank governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, acknowledged that his target of 2 percent inflation, excluding the impact of an April 2014 increase in the sales tax to 8 percent from 5 percent, remains elusive. He said actual inflation is flat at 0 percent and it might take three years, instead of the two years he originally aimed for, to reach that goal.
Core inflation, excluding volatile food prices, ticked up to 2.2 percent in March from 2.0 percent in February, the government reported. It said that excluding both food and energy, the consumer price index rose 2.1 percent, compared with 2.0 percent in February.
The unemployment rate slipped to 3.4 percent in March from 3.5 percent the month before, matching the level last seen in December.
Isn’t that nice! Excluding the necessities ……
What difference, to the common man or woman, does the price of designer clothes, or a Rolls Royce mean when they buy neither? So, the price of crap most people can’t afford went up …. that’s a good thing?
But, that’s not all!!!!!!
However, a survey of purchasing managers by Markit for April showed declines in both production and new orders, with the index dropping below the 50 level which differentiates expansion from contraction to 49.9.
How is that possible? Japan has been printing money like mad since Abe took office!?!??!?!??!??!??!
…. Data released Thursday showed industrial production fell 1.2 percent in March from a year earlier and 0.3 percent from the month before, a milder decline than the more than 2 percent drop many manufacturers and analysts had expected. But a further fall is forecast for April.
Recall, earlier in the article they said that unemployment declined a bit. Are we to believe they actually hired more people to produce less? What? Did they suddenly forget some technology? Or, is it likely the way they calculate their unemployment rate is a screwed up as the way we calculate ours?
The policies have yielded mixed results, with share prices soaring and the value of the yen plunging thanks to massive injections of cash into the economy by the central bank through its purchases of bonds and other assets.
Let me be very, very clear. As it is today, the markets are inversely related to actual economic health, mostly because the lunatics are printing money which is directly siphoned to the markets, (a form of gambling which produces nothing and adds no value to anything) rather than going to the people. It’s much like Zero’s $trillion “stimulus” package. The printed money mostly went to waste and largess. It would have been better if they simply cut a check to each person. Then, the people get to pick the valued and good businesses, rather than some moronic politician’s pet project which is a sure loser. Good businesses add value, bad ones waste wealth and go away.
The U.S. economy expanded at a mere 0.2 percent pace in January-March, the slowest rate in a year, and China’s economy has also slowed more than anticipated.
Economists point to sluggish corporate investment as a factor slowing U.S. growth. That is a problem shared by Japan as companies opt to invest overseas rather than in a shrinking home market where the population is declining and fast aging.
Sluggish corporate investment? How can that be with the markets going the way they are? …… oh, yeh, we printed money that went directly to the markets.
But, then, AP let a little bit of truth in, on their last paragraph ……
Wages have also failed to pick up significantly for most workers, whose incomes are not keeping up even with the modest inflation seen so far under Abe. That in turn has undermined consumer demand, sapping growth.
None of this madness is unique to Japan ….. consider these headlines ….
Yep, that’s the answer! That’ll stop inflation for sure!!!!
US factory activity improves in April, but hiring declines
Well, that’s just the US, China, and Japan ….. there’s always Europe ……..
suyts space 
Like so many of your posts….you do it so well there’s nothing to add
I rated it excellent!
Hey James! FYI…
The Obama Justice Department turned down a request five years ago to help the Baltimore Police Department save a training program widely credited for improving the department’s relations with the city’s crime-ridden and minority neighborhoods and reducing homicides and police-involved shootings.
The department was seeking $200,000 in federal funding to help extend the Diamond Standard training program. It was discontinued in 2012 when Justice declined to act on the request and the city’s new administration decided it no longer could afford it, according to interviews.
The key organizer of the training told The Washington Times that he was floored when he later learned the same Justice program whose help he sought instead gave money to the company that produced the children’s PBS series “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/4/obama-justice-department-rejected-baltimore-police/#ixzz3ZGIMsJXm
Oh the irony, and the CVS, they burns!
This could get interesting…
Who asked the IRS to target Wayne Root? Who gave the IRS agent permission to call Wayne Root when the top IRS investigator claims that never happens? Who asked the Oregon senator to get involved in my audit? Why was a top IRS official interceding in my case? Why was it marked “SENSITIVE”?
This conspiracy goes directly to the Obama White House. I’m not just any conservative media personality. I’m President Obama’s Columbia College classmate (Class of ’83) who has repeatedly publicly questioned Obama’s background and agenda in the national media – including nonstop here at TheBlaze.
I’m one of Obama’s loudest critics. It appears my criticisms hit close to home. I got under Obama’s skin. And someone in Obama’s White House either called that U.S. senator to try to destroy me; or perhaps directly ordered my attacks at the hands of the IRS and then called the Oregon senator to coordinate and oversee the attack.
One thing is now clear: I was the victim of a widespread politically-motivated criminal attack by the IRS.
My files have been turned over to U.S. Senate investigators. I stand ready to testify in front of the US Senate. Game on.
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/there-is-no-more-doubt-i-have-the-proof-that-ties-obama-and-the-democratic-party-to-the-irs-scandal/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Firewire&utm_campaign=Firewire%20-%20HORIZON%205-5-15%20Build-TUES
If the facts presented in this piece turn out to be accurate, some heads should roll.
We got a Tornado today in Northern Germany it seems.
Those aren’t all that common in Germany, are they? Was anyone hurt?
Not by that one, though it did remove a few roofs in a small town.
Storm raged all over N Germany, one guy got killed in Hamburg by a small roof falling on his car.
Back in the mid seventies, when I lived near Stuttgart, we had a small tornado touch down just off post. And either that same year, or one right before or after, we had the largest hail storm I have ever seen. The hail blanketed the autobahn 2-3 inches deep.