Japan’s October Consumer Price Index rose 2.3% year-on-year, driven by nearly 60% hikes in rice prices, according to government data.
1Capital Region Tiger ★.Nov. 22, 2024 (Fri) 09:18:06.91ID:Z0UIoCUC9
The nationwide Consumer Price Index, which tracks price movements of goods and services consumed at home, rose 2.3% in October. The price of new rice continues to rise, with rice varieties increasing by nearly 60%. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced that the nationwide consumer price index for October, excluding fresh food which is highly volatile, was 108.8, up 2.3% from October last year. The growth rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, marking the second consecutive month of contraction. The biggest increase was in rice, which increased by 58.9%. For the full text, see source. Last updated: 11/22 (Fri) 9:00.
>>1 Japanese farmers have small farming scales compared to other countries. Average farm size in each country ・France: 52.1ha ・Germany: 45.7ha ・England: 53.8ha ・Spain: 23.8ha ・Italy: 7.6ha ・Japan: 1.7ha To maintain low rice prices, it is necessary to intensify and scale up agriculture, and to achieve this, it is necessary to abolish preferential treatment for small-scale farmers and designate areas for agricultural production in urban planning (municipalities will protect waterways and designate areas where unpleasant odors from fertilizers are acceptable).
>>1 The current high prices in Japan are due to high prices overseas, not rising prices in Japan. According to IMF statistics, as of 2024, prices in the US will rise by 17.7% compared to 2020, but in Japan they will only rise by 5.6%. The rise in prices in Japan is caused by rising prices overseas, so by suppressing employee wages, they are preventing the rise in prices overseas from being reflected in sales prices and responding to deflationary domestic demand. What Japan needs is not an end to the weak yen, but an end to deflation.
>>1 That’s what happens with rice. The base year for the Consumer Price Index is 2020. That’s because that was the year when rice prices were plummeting in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The dollar-yen exchange rate of 160 hasn’t been factored into prices yet, so it may still rise. Inflation in Japan won’t occur unless there is a cost push.
If we want to stop the yen from falling, we have no choice but to stop oil and natural gas production and restart nuclear power plants, which are buying 30 trillion dollars a year and selling yen.
>>32 The economies of developed countries are already at a standstill, and the gap between rich and poor is only widening within the country. The reason rice prices are soaring in Japan is due to the negligence of agricultural policy.
If they have children, they will have a mortgage of tens of millions of yen, they will need at least 20 million yen for each child’s upbringing, and it is even said that they will need 40 million yen for their own retirement.
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