Gestern wurde das revidierte Bruttoinlandsprodukt für das dritte Quartal 2008 in Japan veröffentlicht; es ergab sich für Q3 eine Kontraktion von -0,5%. Das zweite Quartal wurde auf -1,0% nach unten revidiert. Zwei aufeinander folgende Quartale mit einem negativen Wachstum des Bruttoinlandsproduktes entsprechen nach landläufiger Meinung einer Rezession.

Die Chart-Zusammenstellung (19 Charts)

Japan in der Rezession – Übersicht vom Dezember 2008

bildet diverse Sektoren der japanischen Konjunktur ab.

Bruttoinlandsprodukt, Veränderung zum Vorquartal in%:

Da stellt sich mir die Frage, welche ausserordentlichen Maßnahmen hat Ben sich da wieder ausgedacht.

Fed Weighs Debt Sales of Its Own
Move Presents Challenges: ‘Very Close Cousins to Existing Treasury Bills’

By JON HILSENRATH and DAMIAN PALETTA

The Federal Reserve is considering issuing its own debt for the first time, a move that would give the central bank additional flexibility as it tries to stabilize rocky financial markets.

Government debt issuance is largely the province of the Treasury Department, and the Fed already can print as much money as it wants. But as the credit crisis drags on and the economy suffers from recession, Fed officials are looking broadly for new financial tools.

The Federal Reserve drained $25 billion in temporary reserves from the banking system when it arranged overnight reverse repurchase agreements.

Fed officials have approached Congress about the concept, which could include issuing bills or some other form of debt, according to people familiar with the matter.

It isn’t known whether these preliminary discussions will result in a formal proposal or Fed action. One hurdle: The Federal Reserve Act doesn’t explicitly permit the Fed to issue notes beyond currency.

TOKYO (Nikkei)–Mobile phone shipments in October fell 57.8% year on year to 1.08 million units, the sharpest decline this year and the lowest total since the data was first released in April 2003.

A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford) decided to
have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and
hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate
the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior
management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person
steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person
rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a
consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second
opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat,
while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent
another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team’s management structure
was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering
superintendents, and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1
person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called
the ‘Rowing Team Quality First Program,’ with meetings, dinners, and
free pens for the rower There was discussion of getting new paddles,
canoes, and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor
performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and
canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved
was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year’s
racing team was out-sourced to India.

Sadly, The End.

Here’s something else to think about:
Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of
the US, claiming they can’t make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen
plants inside the US. The last quarter’s results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in
losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads.