TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese cabinet ministers welcomed the Group of Eight summit's stance on Tokyo's sweeping stimulus policies as a vote of confidence in the government's strategy to end 15 years of entrenched deflation and revive a lackluster econom

In the brief but tempestuous fight between Abe and the "deflation monster", the latter is now victoriously romping through an irradiated Tokyo, if last night's epic (ongoing) collapse in the Nikkei is any indication: down 6.4%, crushing anyone who li

As Japan shows, even ultra-low interest rates do not protect an economy against the adverse impact of prolonged fiscal deficits and deflation

The bank stood by an ambitious target to stoke 2 percent inflation in two years, despite skepticism over how quickly it can lift the economy from deflation.    

There are many headwinds to deflation-monster-fighting Abe's plans to bring Japan back from the ledge but perhaps the biggest one is the demographic disaster. As Japan News reports, the decline in Japan's population set another record in 2012 with th

Some are surprised that inflation has failed to take off despite massive amounts of quantitative easing. The explanation, ECRI explains, is simple: recession kills inflation. For all the talk of the wealth effect, demand is falling and deflation is c

By Mercenary Trader: "For 20 long years of deflation, Japan suffered a deep loss of confidence. It is now time to become an engine of economic growth."Those are the words of Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan.But Mr. Abe failed to heed the words

Someone please tell Nick Rowe to take his meds before reading this post. This morning Draghi held a press conference to explain why the ECB had decided not to cut rates, despite 5 years of near-zero NGDP growth: The bank sees no deflation, nor risk o

Someone please tell Nick Rowe to take his meds before reading this post. This morning Draghi held a press conference to explain why the ECB had decided not to cut rates, despite 5 years of near-zero NGDP growth: The bank sees no deflation, nor risk o

Two months after Kuroda's first speech at the BoJ unveiling the 2-2-2-2 awesome extravaganza of excess that will enable Abe to slay his deflation-monster, we thought it worth a quick update on the score... things are not going according to plan, we s

Last night's over-promised and under-delivered 'third arrow' from Abe appears to have solidified market opinions about the chances of Abe slaying his deflation-monster nemesis. UBS' CIO Alex Friedman fears that Japan may face a fearsome stagflation -

Wall Street Breakfast Editors submit:Top StoriesJapanese PM unveils "third arrow" of reform... Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced a sweeping package of reforms, or the "third arrow" of his grand plan to pull his country out of deflation

That deep red premarket color on your terminal means it must be a non-Tuesday. Just kidding. Anyone expecting Abe to announce definitive, material growth reform instead of vague promises to slay a "deflation monster" last night was sorely disappointe

For about 2 minutes there it looked as if we were back on track and by the power of jawbone alone, Abe could lift Japan from its malaise. *ABE VOWS TO SLAY DEFLATION MONSTER WITH FISCAL, MONETARY POLICY *ABE CALLS GROWTH STRATEGY CENTERPIECE OF ECON

By Markos Kaminis (Wall St. Greek): Deflation is not a good thing folks, but it is readily evident these days in economic and pricing data. Despite what Fed forecasters have last indicated, it could be followed by new economic illness here at home. T

The Japanese government has made fighting deflation a top priority, but so far, efforts have not had much effect on everyday items, like a can a soda.    

By Marc Chandler:Japan has released a number of reports early in the Tokyo session that show an economy seemingly on the mend and an easing of deflationary pressures. Ironically, the yen tended to weaken in response, whereas the dollar ostensibly sol

Factory output picked up in April but consumer prices continued to fall and manufacturers forecast further weakness ahead

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's factory output picked up in April and deflation abated slightly as a weaker yen and firmer overseas demand boosted growth, boding well for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to shake the world's third-largest economy out of

Japan's factory output picked up in April and deflation abated slightly as a weaker yen and firmer overseas demand boosted growth, boding well for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to shake the world's third-largest economy out of nearly two decade

TOKYO, May 31 (Reuters) - Japan's factory output picked up in April and deflation abated slightly as a weaker yen and firmer overseas demand boosted growth, boding well for Prime Minister Shinzo...

Japan may quickly discover there are worse things than deflation and zero interest rates – namely the wrong kind of inflation and high interest rates

So QE cannot possibly offset the effects of fiscal tightening in the lives of ordinary working people - the largest part of the population. In fact because it seems to discourage productive corporate investment, it may even reinforce downwards pressu

Another interesting divergence here via Societe Generale research.  Like the commodity trend, we’re seeing a big divergence in US inflation expectations and the S&P 500.  If deflation is truly a big risk then there’s an awfu

Inflation is dead.

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda is calling on commercial banks with solid capital positions to be more aggressive in lending, something the central bank sees as crucial to getting the economy out of deflation.

By Financial Iceberg:The SituationAbenomics describes the plans of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to revive growth in the world's third largest economy, which is struggling to find traction under the impact of a strong yen and stubborn deflation.

Submitted by Lance Roberts of Street Talk Live blog, In several of my recent missives I have made several references to the wave of deflationary pressures that are currently encircling the globe.   In "Japan: A Few Thoughts On The Crash" I stat

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog, Is the coming financial collapse going to be inflationary or deflationary?  Are we headed for rampant inflation or crippling deflation?  This is a subject that is hotly debated by e

Less than two months after declaring that the BOJ would push down bond yields to spur economic activity and beat deflation, Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda has found himself struggling with a rise instead.

The Swiss National Bank must maintain its policy of defending its exchange-rate floor as the country is still battling with deflation and fresh safe-haven inflows could again push the Swiss franc higher, reinforcing that trend and putting the country

Another event-free day in which the only major economic data point was the release of UK CPI, which joined the rest of the world in telegraphing price deflation, despite bubbles in the real estate and stock markets, printing 2.0% Y/Y on expectations

We were just talking about how the wrongest prediction of the past 5 years was the call for "inflation" or "hyperinflation" due to aggressive monetary easing. In his latest US Macro Dashboard note, Morgan Stanley economist Vincent Reinhart points out

Lackluster inflation in the U.S. and Europe has some worried about countries running the risk of deflation.

Inflation slowed in 24 (of 27) EU nations in April to leave the average EU rate at 1.4% (versus 1.9% in March). Greece entered deflation in March for the first time in 45 years and Latvia consumer prices fell 0.4% in April (versus +2.8% a year ago).

By Tom Lydon: Japan's main stock index rallied more than 2% on Wednesday, as the Nikkei 225 climbed above 15,000 for the first time since 2008.After years of languishing in stagnation and deflation, Japanese markets are back to financial crisis level

Is the Fed ready to taper its program of quantitative easing, as hedge fund billionaire David Tepper suggested on Monday, or will Bernanke & Co. double down in an attempt to jump start the labor market and fight deflation?  The jury is still

Not only is the cupcake craze truly winding down, it's leading to some Twitter fun among econ nerds.

Instead of maligning Ben Bernanke, the Street should commission a man-on-horseback life-sized bronze, sited in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Ben?s done more for the country than General Sherman who sits atop a 20-foot high granite pedestal on

Yesterday, the Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index for Canada was released. It showed that 12-month home price inflation in Canada was down to 2.0%, the lowest level since November 2009. And given the huge amount of talk in Can

ByFund Gurus:Although inflation is a major concern for long term investors, the global economy is still shaky at best and central banks are starting to worry about deflation instead. While inflation can make your money worth less and help reduce the

When I see the chart for Euro zone NPLs and look at the numbers, I think debt deflation. And this is exactly the problem with the euro zone's policy mix.The most in-depth research and analysis is on Credit Writedowns Pro, now with big discounts for r

Japan scored a victory in its decadelong battle against falling prices known as deflation, as the yen tumbled to trade at 100 to the dollar for the first time in four years.

In 2008 the Federal Reserve announced the first round of monetary stimulus that would later become known as quantitative easing (QE).  Since then, the Fed has announced more rounds of QE with the latest dubbed "QE-finity", a name resulting from

IN RECENT years inflation has been one of the few economic indices that has not caused much trouble to Americans. Contrary to repeated warnings, it has neither rocketed higher nor turned into deflation. But policymakers now face a different sort of i

Forget cars, Nintendo machines or anime. Japan’s biggest export right now is deflation, writes Michael Casey.

ZURICH, May 8 (Reuters) - Swiss consumer prices continued tofall on an annual basis in April, data showed on Tuesday,supporting the case for the Swiss National Bank to maintain thecap on the franc it introduced to ward off deflation.

It is possible to conclude, therefore, that psychology typical of irrational market behavior is at play. This suggests that when expectations shift from inflation to deflation, irrational behavior might adjust risk asset prices significantly. Such si

The dollar picture is worth a thousand words, and shows that the status quo dollar bear crowd has been wrong.