7/2 Issue
To act or not to act? That is the question this week.
Reuters reports that the Bank of Japan is not looking to expand its stimulus program, as it expects the drop in inflation to be temporary. In addition, unemployment hit a 16-year low in May, while some see signs of “bottoming out” in spending. Bloomberg, however, offers a less optimistic perspective, noting that “consumer prices climbed at the fastest pace in 32 years.” Taro Saito, director of economic research at NLI Research Institute, states, “Households are starting to struggle with faster inflation coupled with the sales-tax hike,” adding “It’s hard to imagine households are happy with Abenomics.”
The US News & World Report praises Japan’s cabinet decision to allow Japan to participate in collective self-defense and thus “normalize Japan’s military posture.” The changing security situation in Asia, the Report writes, warrants the “modest and legitimate step” toward a more proactive role for the country.
On the same subject, while noting that “a majority of Japanese oppose the collective self-defense reinterpretation,” the Wall Street Journal calls the move “inevitable” in light of China’s “bellicose rhetoric and unilateral actions,” speculating that the move may prompt Beijing to “consider how its aggressive behavior” led to the change.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, urged Europe and particularly the United States to take a harder line with Russia over its continuing aggression in Ukraine, Putin’s “gestures suggesting de-escalation” notwithstanding. “The United States is right to work for allied unity on sanctions,” the Post asserts, “But the quest for unity cannot become an excuse for inaction.”
The Los Angeles Times describes another possible call to action for the United States, specifically the private sector, coming from a report that examines the potential economic costs of climate change. The report seeks to offer a “springboard for a serious, non-partisan discussion of the potential actions we can take.”
And despite a lack of any apparent concerted national action, The Economist reports, suicides in China have decreased precipitously in recent years. Possible causes? Besides higher living standards and general satisfaction, urbanization and the atomization of extended families may play a part, even as they suggest challenges down the line for China’s aging population.
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To see the overseas media’s takes on these and other developments, you can browse the Global News highlights in app or at http://www.irken.jp/gn/. Links to the original sources are provided above, but please note these are frequently updated. Links that were valid at publication may later be broken.
