At the end of last year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fired a loud salvo. In a forceful attempt to kick start Japan‘s economy from its decade-long stupor, Abe leaned on the Bank of Japan to set a 2% inflation target. He threatened to pass a law to limit the central bank‘s independence if it balked. “Countries around the world are printing more money to boost their export competitiveness,” said Abe. “Japan must do so, too.” The Bank of Japan caved, vowing to step up purchases of government bonds starting next January.
Filed under: Global Economy Tagged: Abe, Bank of Japan, Central bank, China, currency wars, Dollar, Economy, Eurozone, Inflation targeting, Japan, Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe, United States, yen, yuan
