Japan's economy slips into recession

[The Straight Story]

Japan's economy slips into recession

REUTERS - Japan’s economy shrank much more than expected in the first quarter and slipped into recession after the triple blow of the March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis hit business and consumer spending and tore apart supply chains.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) expects the economy to resume growing in the second half of the year, but some economists say the surprisingly grim gross domestic product figures in the first quarter increase the risk that the pace of recovery will be slower than anticipated.

Manufacturers are moving to repair supply chains, but fears of power shortages in the summer and an ongoing nuclear crisis also pose risks, economists say.


The negative surprise came as inventories fell and imports jumped following losses in factory output. Still, economists expect the BOJ to keep monetary policy steady when it ends a two-day meeting on Friday while declaring readiness to ease further if the quake’s impact proves more lasting that thought.

http://www.france24.com/en/20110519-japan-economy-slips-recession-earthquake-tsunami-nuclear-crisis#

[scheming daemons]

1. A once-in-a-thousand-years Tsunami will do that to a country...

...especially an island country that sits on a fault line.

[damntexdem]

4. A thousand-year catastrophe that hits a dangerous industry ...

that didn't exist in any previous millenium. That will do it every time.

[nc4bo]

2. At least international news is naming some causes for recession...

NBC this morning mentioned Japan's recession but neglected to mention earthquake, tsunami or meltdowns.

Hard times for so many of us.

[AsahinaKimi]

3. I wonder how many

Japanese are slipping into a depression. With all thats going on, it must be hard to go to work each day or keep your spirits up.

頑張れ日本 !!

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. What I wonder is, due to cultural issues

how many of them are seeing help.

[Jkid]

7. I expect few

I'm not sure what actual resources Japan has for suicide prevention.

[Art_from_Ark]

10. Interesting picture

Where did you find it?

(By the way, the picture is probably from last year, since May 10 and May 17 in the posters are listed as Mondays)

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. As predicted

this should come as zero surprise to anybody. Disasters of any scale will do that. And no, it is not because they are on an Island...

The current floods in the US can throw the region into a recession as well

[KitSileya]

8. I wonder about their food production

It wouldn't surprise me if the Japanese government is way too optimistic about food export (i.e., they think that people will still be willing to buy food produced in Japan) especially given that they are surpressing the measuring of radioactivity of tea etc produced in Japan.

If they start to have to import all food stuffs, their economy is going to plummet.

[Art_from_Ark]

11. Japan does not export so much food

and the country already imports about 60% of its food needs, and has been doing that for decades. The Japanese economy will not plummet if a little more food is imported.

[KitSileya]

12. That's interesting to know.

Good for the future of the population too, that they don't rely so much on homegrown food, now that most of it will be contaminated. (The psychological aspect is interesting too - I still cannot eat certain berries that are ubiquitous here in Norway, after we were warned so intensely not to eat them in the summer of '86.)

[Hannah Bell]

9. the recession is world-wide.