Out of interest. Nikkei breaks 40,000 so the Bank of Japan ends 17 years of ultra-easy monetary policy settings – ending the monetization of Government debt and corporate debt
From here:
Bank of Japan scraps radical policy, makes first rate hike in 17 years | Reuters
You can read all about it! The (rock bottom) line is, Japan’s interest rates are zero.
No doubt the news that the Japanese stock market had finally recovered the peaks of 38,0000 made all the way back in 1991 contributed to the move. Here’s a long-term chart of the Nikkei-225 stock market index.
Maybe this is a “double top” ahead of a massive death spiral – but 33 years between peaks is an awful lot of nothing. Plenty of opportunities to profit from the ups and downs and those who bought in the last ten years have done well.
So, what about the Bank of Japan balance sheet? From here (next six-monthly due in a month):
Total size, the odd 741.5 TRILLION yen = around 5 TRILLION US$ at 150 yen per dollar. That’s for Japan’s 125 million people = 40,000 bucks for every man, woman and child in Japan.
How different from the fiat money creating actions of the US Federal Reserve
From here:
The Fed “owns” (by printing one’s and zeros’) 7 TRILLION bucks of assets for 335 million Americans = a little under 21,000 bucks per person (excluding the criminal migrants).
So, if you think the Fed is insane, don’t turn your back on the Bank of Japan, it is twice as insane!
For those wishing to learn more, here’s a fantastic site to explore:
Balance Sheets - Yardeni Research
In my view all monetary policy manipulation is a step on the path to socialism as it devalues the utility of money by pretending that work ca be substituted with fiat. Socialists want to replace money with social credit scores – how much easier to do that if you debase the currency so it is worthless? Inherited family wealth for decades of work done and taxes paid be damned!
In my view Kapan has suffered three lost decades because of the actions of the central bank. It would have recovered faster and better if the economy had been left to its own devices with no interference. Same goes for the US post the 1987 and 2008 financial crashes. All the Fed dud was increasing the gap between rich and poor, healthy and sick, top and bottom IQ quartiles.
Onwards!
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