Bank of Japan

How to Pay for It All: An Option the Candidates Missed

The Democratic Party has clearly swung to the progressive left, with candidates in the first round of presidential debates coming up with one program after another to help the poor, the disadvantaged and the struggling middle class. Proposals ranged from a Universal Basic Income to Medicare for All to a Green New Deal to student debt forgiveness and free college tuition.

The great Japanese bounce-back?

There are fears that the standoff between North Korea and the US could rattle Asian markets and derail Japan’s revitalized economy [Xinhua]
If Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is feeling smug about economic policy right now, he’s got the figures to back him up.
Second quarter GDP growth jumped a full 1.0 per cent in Q2 of the year to reach an annualized 4 per cent, a coup for his policies of raising value added taxes to boost income and stimulate the market.
The latest data beat forecasts of a gain of 0.6 per cent in Q2.

My Political-Financial Road Map for 2017

Happy New Year! May yours be peaceful, safe and impactful!
As tumultuous as last year was from a global political perspective on the back of a rocky start market-wise, 2017 will be much more so. The central bank subsidization of the financial system (especially in the US and Europe) that began with the Fed invoking zero interest rate policy in 2008, gave way to international distrust of the enabling status quo that unfolded in different ways across the planet. My prognosis is for more destabilization, financially and politically.  In other words, the world's a mess.