In a highly unusual step, the G7 agreed on Friday morning to coordinate their efforts to control the sharp rise in the Japanese yen. The decision today was prompted by a sudden surge of strength by the yen that by Thursday morning (in Tokyo) had pushed the Japanese currency to a record high against the [...]
Japan created just in time manufacturing, the method in which parts arrive at the plant just prior to the time they’ll be used. It was widely adopted by the auto industry, because it saves money and improves quality. Pre JIT, automakers would keep weeks or months of safety stock sitting in warehouses to make sure [...]
For Americans struggling to pay for ends meat, paying for said meat just got tougher. On Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported its numbers that track inflation. Back out the cost of food and energy, which most economist do, and inflation looks rather tame. But if you just look at the price of food, [...]
The conflict in Bahrain may seem small compared to Libya – the country produces only 40,000 barrels of crude oil a day, a tiny fraction of world supply, and it economy is miniscule. But the religious nature of the unrest in the country has some potentially major implications for the world economy. “If the current [...]
Last month, I asked in this space if the global recovery was becoming a sure thing. Some economists had started to become buoyant about the world’s economic prospects and boosted their growth projections, but I had a few doubts. There seemed to be too many risks hanging about out there to be fully comfortable that [...]
It’s more than just what on the floor (Photo: Mike Segar/REUTERS) For the second day in the row, the US stock market plunged, and then bounced back. Hurt, yes, but shares were not beaten, even as investors had to worry about the double whammy of concerns of nuclear contamination in Japan and a housing report [...]
After a stress-inducing day on Wall Street, investors have finally woken to the potential dangers to the world economic order posed by the giant earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The Japanese economy is the world’s third-largest, and its companies play important roles in everything from heavy industry to high-tech to finance. There is no doubt [...]
Worry has taken over world stock markets (Photo: Reuters) The US stock market, it appears, won’t dodge the Japanese earthquake. Up until Tuesday, US investors had mostly shrugged off the horrific events in Asia. And now, it seems, no stock is safe. Not even the cute Aflac duck. Shares of Aflac stock were down 10% [...]
The Japanese earthquake has taken the chance that we will be paying $5.00 a gallon gas by summer down from a good to nearly zero. That’s not to say that the US will avoid an economic impact from the Japan quake. Investors all of a sudden do seem spooked about Japan. US stocks opened down [...]
As rescue teams and government officials sort through the rubble caused by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami, we’re getting a clearer picture of the damage done by the catastrophe – and it doesn’t look good. Perhaps Japanese Prime Minister summed up the situation best when he said the quake presented the worst crisis for Japan since [...]
