Friday, May 31, 2013

Japan: Japanese concerned over 'Abenomics'

The stock market in Japan has rocketed by more than a third this year; prices are rising too; but wages have been static. The impact on the economy as a whole is certainly being felt. In the first quarter of this year it grew at 3.5 percent, fuelled not just be a weakening yen, but also by an increase in domestic consumer demand. But the longer-term success of Shinzo Abe's gamble rests on a number of things: on consumer spending spreading beyond the wealthy to the rest of Japan; on business starting to invest in increased capacity again; and on his ability to push through structural reforms of how Japan's economy works. Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett reports from Tokyo.