Home » Posts tagged 'shinzo abe' (Page 2)
Tag Archives: shinzo abe
The Fukushima Fix
The Fukushima Fix
Japan’s Abe government claims portions of Fukushima Prefecture (original population 2 million) are safe for habitation, radioactivity is acceptable; whereas scientific data by third-party NGOs indicates otherwise, stay away!
PM Abe’s specific maneuvers towards rehabilitation give the appearance that the Fukushima full-blown nuclear meltdown is relatively minimal in comparison to Chernobyl’s disastrous explosion of 1986. After all, to this day, Chernobyl after 30 years is still a 30km “exclusion zone” where nobody is allowed due to excessive levels of radiation.
Meanwhile, back in Japan, PM Abe is moving people back into former restricted zones four years after the fact.
It remains an open question as to whether the Fukushima aftermath will be worse than Chernobyl. After all, the China Syndrome may be actively at work at Fukushima and as such could last over many lifetimes.
Still, the immediate direct exposure of radiation over population centers at Chernobyl was significantly more than Fukushima of which 80% drifted out into the Pacific Ocean.
But, that may be slight solace because, horrifyingly, nobody knows where the Fukushima melted cores are located, nobody knows; it’s absolutely true, nobody knows whether the molten cores are within the containment vessels, outside of the vessels, deep in the ground, or cataclysmically traversing towards the water table.
Regardless, PM Abe’s directive appears to be: “No problem, we’ve cleaned up a whole lot of the mess outside of the immediate meltdown… so, move back into former restricted areas.”
Still, it’s nearly impossible to give an all-clear signal at this stage, especially with the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station containment vessels completely out of control with wild atom-splitting rogue radionuclides spewing into the Pacific Ocean, and who knows where else (Einstein must be spinning in his grave).
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Unusually Massive Protests Erupt in Japan Against Forthcoming “War Legislation”
Unusually Massive Protests Erupt in Japan Against Forthcoming “War Legislation”
In case you aren’t up to speed on your Japanese history, the nation’s post WWII Constitution prohibits military action unless it’s in self-defense. Clearly a sensible approach, which is why the current Japanese government, led by the demonstrably insane and incompetent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, wants to get rid of it.
This story is very important. Not only will this action increase the likelihood of World War III in the Far East, but it’s another important example of a government acting against the will of the people.
Polling has indicated the Japanese public is against a pivot toward militarization and war, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing forward nonetheless. In fact, the current legislation to allow overseas military intervention has already passed the lower house of government. This prompted many Japanese to emerge from their decades long political apathy and get out into the streets. It’s estimated these protests were the largest in recent memory.
The AP reports:
TOKYO (AP) — Mothers holding their children’s hands stood in the sprinkling rain, some carrying anti-war placards, while students chanted slogans to the beat of a drum against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his defense policies.
Japan is seeing new faces join the ranks of protesters typically made up of labor union members and graying leftist activists. Tens of thousands filled the streets outside Tokyo’s parliament on Sunday to rally against security legislation expected to pass in September.
“No to war legislation!” “Scrap the bills now!” and “Abe, quit!” they chanted in one of the biggest protests in recent memory. The bills would expand Japan’s military role under a reinterpretation of the country’s war-renouncing constitution.
In Japan, where people generally don’t express political views in public, such rallies have largely diminished since often-violent student protests in the 1960s.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Both ECB And BOJ Warn More QE May Be Response To Chinese Currency War
Both ECB And BOJ Warn More QE May Be Response To Chinese Currency War
Minutes from the ECB’s most recent policy meeting reveal that Mario Draghi and company have a number of concerns about the pace of economic growth in the euroarea and about the outlook for inflation which, much to the governing council’s surprise, “remains unusually low.”
Board members also took note of increasingly volatile EGB markets and made special mention of the second bund VaR shock which took place at the first of June, something the central bank attributes to “overvaluation [and] one?way market positioning related to the public sector purchase programme.” In other words: “our bad.”
The bank gave itself the now customary pat on the back for the “success” of PSPP noting that the “moderate frontloading of purchases” (a reference to the effective expansion of QE that was leaked to a room full of hedge funds at an event in May) was going smoothly, other than the above-mentioned nasty bout of extreme volatility.
As for the economy and inflation, well, that’s not going so hot. “Overall, the recovery in the euro area was expected to remain moderate and gradual, which was considered disappointing from both a longer-term and an international perspective [while] consumer price inflation had remained unusually low.”
Between that rather grim assessment and the comments cited above regarding volatility, one is certainly left to wonder what it is exactly about PSPP that’s going so “smoothly.”
But as interesting as all of that is (or isn’t), the most compelling comments were related to China. Here’s the excerpt:
In particular, financial developments in China could have a larger than expected adverse impact, given this country’s prominent role in global trade.
Consider that, and consider the following statement sent to Bloomberg by an adviser to Japanese PM Shinzo Abe:
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Short Term Gains And Long Term Disaster
Short Term Gains And Long Term Disaster
About a month ago, Japan’s giant GPIF pension fund announced it had started doing in Q4 2014, what PM Abe had long asked it to: shift a large(r) portion of its investment portfolio from bonds to stocks. No more safe assets for the world’s largest pension fund, or a lot less at least, but risky ones. For Abe this promises the advantage of an economy that looks healthier than it actually is, while for the fund it means that the returns on its investments could be higher than if it stuck to safe assets. Not a word about the dangers, not a word about why pensions funds were, for about as long as they’ve been in existence, obliged by law to only hold AAA assets. This is from February 27:
Japan’s GPIF Buys More Stocks Than Expected In Q4; Slashes JGBs
Japan’s trillion-dollar public pension fund bought nearly $15 billion worth of domestic shares in the fourth quarter, more than expected, while slashing its Japanese government bond holdings as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prods the nation to take more risks to spur economic growth. The bullishness toward Japanese equities by the Government Pension Investment Fund, the world’s biggest pension fund, boosted hopes in the Tokyo market that stocks have momentum to add to their 15-year highs.
GPIF said on Friday its holdings of domestic shares rose to 19.8% of its portfolio by the end of December from 17.79% at the end of September. Yen bonds fell to 43.13% from 48.39%. Adjusting for factors such as the Tokyo stock market’s rise of roughly 8% during the quarter, GPIF bought a net 1.7 trillion yen ($14 billion) of stocks in the period, reckons strategist Shingo Kumazawa at Daiwa Securities. GPIF’s investment changes are closely watched by markets, as a 1 percentage-point shift in the 137 trillion yen ($1.15 trillion) fund means a transfer of about $10 billion.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Japan readies record $800 billion 2015-16 budget: sources
Japan readies record $800 billion 2015-16 budget: sources
(Reuters) – Japan’s government will propose a record budget for next fiscal year of more than $800 billion but cut borrowing for a third year, government officials said on Sunday, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks to maintain growth while curbing the heaviest debt burden in the industrial world.
The third annual budget since Abe swept to power in late 2012 also highlights his struggle to contain bulging welfare costs for the fast-ageing society while increasing discretionary spending in areas such as the military.
Abe’s 96.3 trillion yen ($813 billion) draft budget for the year from April, to be approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday and submitted to an upcoming session of Parliament, is up from this fiscal year’s initial 95.9 trillion, the two officials told Reuters.
But spending restraint and a surge in tax revenues as the economy recovers allows the government to cut bond issuance by 4.4 trillion yen to 36.9 trillion, the third decrease in a row and the lowest level in six years, the officials said.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, unleashes stimulus plan to spur growth – Business – CBC News
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, unleashes stimulus plan to spur growth – Business – CBC News.
Japan’s cabinet approved 3.5 trillion yen ($29 billion US) in fresh stimulus Saturday for the ailing economy, pledging to get growth back on track and restore the country’s precarious public finances.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is wrapping up his second year in office hard-pressed to salvage a recovery that fizzled into recession after a sales tax hike in April.
The stimulus plan endorsed by the cabinet includes 600 billion yen ($5 billion US) earmarked for stagnant regional economies. It also lays out Abe’s vision for countering longer term trends such as Japan’s surging public debt and a declining and aging population.
“A strong economy is the wellspring of Japan’s national strength,” said a summary of the plan released by the government.
It pledged to restore vitality to local regions to enable young Japanese “to have dreams and hopes for the future.”
Japan May Enact Law to Speed Approval of Troop Deployment – Bloomberg
Japan May Enact Law to Speed Approval of Troop Deployment – Bloomberg.
Japan may enact permanent legislation to accelerate the approval process for overseas troop deployments as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks to expand the role of the nation’s military.
The government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party plan to submit such a bill to parliament next year, the Nikkei newspaper reported today without attribution. Currently, specific law must be enacted each time members of the Self-Defense Forces are dispatched overseas, Nikkei said.
Abe’s cabinet in July reinterpreted the pacifist constitution in place for nearly 70 years to let Japan take part in mutual defense with allies. Abe this month named Gen Nakatani, a National Defense Academy graduate who served five years of military service, as defense minister as he prepares to pass supporting legislation for that policy change.
