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China Blasts Japan's Fiscal Policy Lunacy
Our thoughts on the epic disaster that is Abenomics, and how Japan (just like the US, just like Europe, just like every insolvent developinged country) makes up policy on the fly - very often contradictory as in the most recent example of a sales tax hike offset by a corporate tax reduction - day after day based on the prevailing market response, have been extensively analyzed and mocked on these pages over the past year. We were, however, delighted when over the weekend none other than China decided to take Japan to task with the most vicious critique to date of the pure comedy that Abenomics has become.
To wit from Bloomberg: Japan’s plan to raise taxes while expanding stimulus received “widespread skepticism” at the meeting of Group of 20 policy makers, according to Chinese Deputy Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao. "Japan, on the one hand, plans to raise consumption taxes next year," Zhu told reporters in Washington during the G-20 meetings. "On the other hand, it plans to unleash a fresh round of 5 trillion-yen economic stimulus to stem the economic slowdown. Such strategy received widespread skepticism."
And crickets.
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Japan's behavior is not lunacy from the perspective of the US and UK.
Racing to the bottom will no longer be tolerated. Synchronized diving means no strong currency left behind. The UK and USA would not be able to QE4EVA if Germany and Japan were allowed to behave in their own best interests.
Long live Bretton Woods!
Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia and Eurasia.
Not to worry...
FUKUPPY to the rescue! (The latest official mascot from Japan)
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/10/14/look-its-fukuppy-to-the-rescue/
The winged egg character was born inside a refrigerator in Fukushima, does not have a gender and possesses a strong sense of justice. It is intended to represent Osaka-based Fukushima Industries.
It makes perfect sense because the group being taxed is different than the group receiving the stimulus.
See US FED policy for further details.
Its a great idea. Bernanke did it and I haven't had to work for years.
What the hell is he talking about? The fact that whole fucking world economic system is based on debt should be viewed with skepitcism.
The important thing is that everybody's now agreed that a debt based system, where every country just 'prints up what it needs' to buy real things, and we all just trust each other not to cheat and 'print too much' has finally been collectively accepted as the best possible system, most motivating and rewarding, and least prone to moral hazard and abuse. Its just so sad it took so long. Think of all the work that could have been avoided if this system had been discovered 1000 years ago.
This is just unfuckingreal.
"Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd confirms they were called in to help the employees at Walmart because there were so many people clearing off the shelves. He says Walmart was so packed, "It was worse than any black Friday" that he's ever seen.
Lynd explained the cards weren't showing limits and they called corporate Walmart, whose spokesman said to let the people use the cards anyway. From 7 to 9 p.m., people were loading up their carts, but when the cards began showing limits again around 9, one woman was detained because she rang up a bill of $700.00 and only had .49 on her card. She was held by police until corporate Walmart said they wouldn't press charges if she left the food."
http://www.ksla.com/story/23679489/walmart-shelves-in-springhill-mansfield-cleared-in-ebt-glitch
It is important that the children learn this lesson from their parents: On rare occasions, hard work slavery pays off extra with a bumper crop, thanks be to God government.
I guess walmart had to choose between headlines.
1) Walmart gives away free shit. Everyone celebrates. Middle class too busy to care.
2) 3 store clerks murdered and manager eviscerated when walmart denies ebt purchases.
That could be the headline for this article, if you really think about it.
you forgot to mention Xerox. They are running the program.
Just Xerox's way of saying "sorry about that EBT problem on Saturday, here's your bonus voucher for all you can carry out the store in a couple hours, paid for by taxpayers."
Wait until the EBT cards go down for real. There will be Walmart zombies raiding everything in sight.
At least the theft will then be visible.
i believe Wal Mart can count EBT's as a sale. I don't think this is case with actual theft however.
Anyone else feel like this was a test of the system to see how people react when the system goes down.
I wonder if the system was down for some round-number period of time. Like 12:00:00 - 18:00:00, as if it were a programming issue. Jamie Dimon says something like this to a senator, "You want to see what happens if we don't get what we want? Watch for EBT news tonight."
But EBT'ers are just poor people trying to feed their families and would never take advantage of a situation where they could buy hundreds of dollars worth of food they didn't actually have the money for. They are all upstanding law abiding citizens.
If I used a fake check to buy $700 worth of food, I'd go to jail. But if I was able to use an EBT card I knew to be empty, it's fine.
God, I bet the scene was like when the blackout happened and a hundred people were walking out of Best Buy with TVs under their arms.
This is no big deal. Once the system is fixed they'll just call up everyone who bought more than the limit on their card would have allowed and ask them, politely, to please bring it all back.
BUHWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!
So the price for TPTB to steal billions from the population is that once in a while they give away a few hundred bucks to the new dependent class as a surprise lottery. Seems like a pretty good trade for them.
~47,000,000 Americans currently on food stamps
~15% of all Americans
~70% of all African Americans
"I'll have those niggers voting Democratic for the next 200 years."
Lyndon B. Johnson
Touting his underlying intentions for the Great Society programs
epic snark mr huxter lol +1
Yeah...this is a head-scratcher. The tax hike was supposed to pay down the debt but it has become just another pipeline for funneling taxpayer money to Japan, Inc. Next on Abe's agenda is cutting the corporate tax rate, paid for by the consumption tax hike.
Was China's opinion the same during it's currency debasement phase?
lol. Stagflation. One would think Japan would learn. Guess not. Unless of course there is no other play except collapse (gasp!).
"there is no other play except collapse"
Which Kyle Bass sees happening there within the next two years and which will be the huge trigger that brings down the entire international Ponzi.
raise taxes on the people and hand out free money to bankers and corp cronies, what's wrong with that?
Has never been different in the history of civilization.
It's nice to see Manhattanites getting a huge discount on art this weekend.
Is it me or would this have been a better story if the guy had done this in Detroit?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/banksy-sold-original-artwork-60-nyc-121503621.html
If the guy had done that in Detroit, his art would have been stolen, and he would have been mugged, stabbed and left for dead.
The squawking is getting louder from China. Currency manipulation works until it doesn't. When the Fed delays the taper into 2014 and inflation in China ratchets up another notch, I wonder what they will say then.
Japan, as we know it, won't exist in 10 years, thanks to Fuku. China must know this as their geiger counters are already chirping. So this is all theater of the absurd.
Which is really a shame. A culture cultivated over more than 1000 years of independence ruined in only a couple decades because of mismanagement by a handful of bureaucrats.
Wait until China really starts blasting
I won't hold my breath
What exactly will you be holding?
"Japan, on the one hand, plans to raise consumption taxes next year"
Which does not apply to GOVERNMENT spending. Just individuals.
as if anyone has consumption in this day and age. Another stupid policy ;)
The Chinks should shut their chow mein holes
Raising taxes should help reverse deflation ... right ??
The Government could also raise money by taxing everyone who is fleeing the country - some kind of "emergency exit" fee/tax.
They could also apply an asset tax to all those "Cancer-Seeker" emigrants who are moving to Japan in droves hoping for brain tumors
They tried that in Europe under the banner of austerity. It didn't work.
Thank you China. This is the type of war the world wants to see you wage. Speaking truth to power. Don't be the silent lap dog at the economic table. Educate, kick butt and make waves. It is what needs to be done to the profligacy
they might be crazy enough to do it actually.