Bloggy Business Today

photo courtesy of Bloomberg.com

According to a recent article published by Bloomberg.com, there might be light at the end of the tunnel as far as the Japanese economy is concerned. The stock market actually made significant games for the first time in a week or so and many of the concerns that were surrounding inflation and the credit crunch appear to be at a low point not just over the course of the week, but also over the course of the whole recessionary period we have been in.

Now, you might be wondering why I would bother writing about the Japanese economy for a blog that deals with business, home business and business in the United States. Well, the simple reason is that things are very connected globally nowadays and that means that what affects one part of the world ends up affecting other parts of the world through these chain links. If Japan, a first-world economy very similar to that of the United States, is experiencing a general easing up of concerns, then it is quite possible that similar things might happen in this country with business as well.

This is by no means suggesting that we might be on our way out of the tough times, but rather that we might be approaching an eye in the storm. Keep your eyes on the economic indicators that most affect your business in order to see if this turns out to be true.

Japanese shares rose for the first time in a week after crude oil dropped, relieving inflationary pressure, and as credit-market concerns eased amid speculation Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will receive an investment.

Source

Technorati Tags: credit_crunch, japanese_economy, chain_links, world_economy, economic_indicators, stock_market, inflation, home_business, japan, blog, games, united_states

Bookmark It

One of the fascinating aspects of viewing the credit crunch that is going on around the world is trying to figure out if any parallels can be drawn between the different countries. While the credit crunch has most severely affected the United States and United Kingdom, at the same time many of the developed nations of the world (Western Europe, South Africa and Japan) have had their share of troubles as well. And because different analysts will hold different factors important in their analysis, anything that changes in another country might be construed as something that could change here.

Well, as far as Japan goes, things appear to be improving in the general economy. Loans are up, real estate is starting to look a lot more promising than it did a few months ago and even the unemployment rate is starting to come down. It was 4% in February, 3.9% in March and as April comes to a close it has been clocked in at 3.8%, showing a very distinct downward trend. How low it will go is anybody’s guess, but at the same time there are many people jumping on the bandwagon and stating that conditions in Japan improving might be a sign that things are going to improve in other places within the developed world as well.

Bookmark It

Despite the walk of business that you are involved in, chances are that you’ve been paying close attention to the evolution of the credit crunch in the United States and the efforts that the Fed has undergone in an attempt to alleviate some of the conditions that have been created as a result of the crunch. It’s just simply good business to be kept up to date on something that affects the economy at such a deep level, but at the same time the news seems to be nothing but depressing.

The latest thing the Federal Reserve has been doing is unfreezing bank funding markets in order to alleviate the cost of borrowing. However, that has not been helping matters that much as a recent report suggests that the cost of borrowing over the last quarter rose by almost a third of a percentage. That is not good news for people that are on variable rate mortgages because it means that not only are they going to be paying more money in interest charges for the same loan, but they are also doing it at a time when economic growth is stifled and upward mobility vis-à-vis take home wages is down. That is not a good combination for anyone and in an economic system like the US where the entire system is based in some way or another on the continual expansion of credit, it is not surprising that such bad conditions have been created.

The Federal Reserve will need to step up their efforts in the unfreezing process, or things might get worse in the near future.

Bookmark It