Why You Shouldn’t Believe Japan’s New Economic Stimulus Will Work

By: InvestmentContrarian

George Leong writes: Japan, under newly elected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will aggressively try to get the country’s economy back on track after more than two decades of economic stalling, but it will not be easy. Armed with a new stimulus spending of $116 billion, the hope is that the stimulus spending will drive consumer spending and help revitalize an economy that has been in a comatose state. (Source: “Japanese government approves $116bn stimulus package,” BBC News, January 11, 2013.)

Abe is looking to add significant stimulus, including a whopping $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years to try to drive Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to spur its comatose economy. (Michael Schuman, “Will Japan’s New Prime Minister Start a Debt Crisis?,” Time, December 17, 2012, last accessed January 14, 2013.) But it will not be easy, as the past decades have shown.

Japan entered a technical recession in the third quarter of 2012, with its GDP growth contracting 0.9% and continuing to be impacted by decades of stagnant growth. In fact, from 1980 to 2010, Japan’s average GDP growth was a minuscule 0.6%.

The new stimulus sounds great, but there’s a problem, as the country’s debt levels represent some of the highest in the world and make the U.S. situation seem like a cakewalk.

Japan’s debt as a percentage of its GDP was a humongous 208% in 2011—the worst in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund. Greece, with its financial crisis, is comparatively better at 161%, and the U.S., with its crippling debt levels, is relatively strong at 103% in 2011. (Source: “List of Countries by Public Debt,” Wikipedia via The World Factbook, United States Central Intelligence Agency, last accessed January 14, 2013.)

The problem is that the newly elected Liberal Democratic Party appears to want to spend the country into a financial abyss in order to pump up the country’s GDP growth.

Japan continues to be in an economic abyss, void of any GDP growth.

The expected use of expansive fiscal and monetary policy in Japan to try to re-ignite what used to be the “Pearl of the Orient,” so far, has probably helped to prevent a deeper recession, rather than driving GDP growth.

The country’s interest rates are already at zero, so there’s little space to maneuver. Given interest rates have been at zero percent since 2010, the failure of the country’s GDP growth to rebound is puzzling. Consider that the high point for interest rates since 2005 was a rate of just over 0.5% in 2007. (Source: “What is the Japanese yen [JPY]?,” GoCurrency, October 22, 2102, last accessed January 14, 2013.) That’s seven years with extremely low interest rates, and not much has improved with the country and its GDP growth.

The Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at a dismal 44-month low of 45.0 in December. It was the seventh straight month of contraction.

If I were a betting man, I would not bet my money on a turnaround coming soon for Japan.

Japan is blaming the stagnant GDP growth on the stalling in Europe, the high level of the yen, and its impact on exports. The higher value of the yen does make it tough for Japanese exporters, and it is preventing an export-led recovery for the Japanese economy.

And just like the U.S., Japan’s GDP growth is driven by domestic private consumption that accounts for about 60% of the economy, versus about two-thirds for the U.S.

The problem is that consumer spending is down, as the country’s unemployment rate hovers over four percent. In 1980 and 1990, a mere two percent were unemployed, according to GoCurrency.

I’m not optimistic when a turnaround will occur, but the idea of adding massive debt to an already mounting pile of debt is worrisome.

My advice: stick with China, South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Source: http://www.investmentcontrarians.com/stock-market/why-you-shouldn...

By George Leong, BA, B. Comm.
www.investmentcontrarians.com

Investment Contrarians is our daily financial e-letter dedicated to helping investors make money by going against the “herd mentality.”

George Leong, B. Comm. is a Senior Editor at Lombardi Financial, and has been involved in analyzing the stock markets for two decades where he employs both fundamental and technical analysis. His overall market timing and trading knowledge is extensive in the areas of small-cap research and option trading. George is the editor of several of Lombardi’s popular financial newsletters, including The China Letter, Special Situations, and Obscene Profits, among others. He has written technical and fundamental columns for numerous stock market news web sites, and he is the author of Quick Wealth Options Strategy and Mastering 7 Proven Options Strategies. Prior to starting with Lombardi Financial, George was employed as a financial analyst with Globe Information Services. See George Leong Article Archives

Copyright © 2013 Investment Contrarians- All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.