Article Abstract:
The Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand asked Japan to take decisive action to support the yen and he also asked other industrialized nations to do all they could to stop the yen falling further in value. However, his pleas have not been answered. The U.S. refuses to intercede in Japan's problems because it argues that Japan has to sort out its own problems. This refusal to help will affect the whole of Asia. Export orders will decline and Japan may close its foreign factories in Asia. Japanese banks may also stop giving credit to other ailing Asian economies.
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Article Abstract:
Tokyo's lagging stockmarket implies the managers of the country's pension assets will continue to underperform their US counterparts by 4% or more, as they have since 1989. That may be a boon for overseas fund managers, as reforms earlier this year give foreigners access to more than a quarter of the $2 trillion in pension-fund money and greater ability to invest it offshore. Japan's aging population will have to rely more heavily on these investments and less on the govt supports now keeping pension funds afloat.
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Article Abstract:
The yen's rise against the dollar and high innate costs are leading even Japan's strongest companies to expand overseas rather than at home, and to focus on cutting costs rather than expanding volume. Manufacturing in particular is finding lower production costs in China attractive, and that country drew 42% of all Japanese manufacturing investment in 1993. That expansion also requires equipment from Japan, however, at least temporarily boosting exports. Some other industries have simply switched to distribution.
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