Blog > International Investing > What ever happened to “decoupling”? Japan’s economy shrinks in Q2
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What ever happened to “decoupling”? Japan’s economy shrinks in Q2

Posted August 12, 2008

Asian economies are “decoupling” from America, the wise men told us earlier this year. Looks like they were wrong on that, too.

by Jason Clenfield, Bloomberg.com

Baltimore — (TFN): Japan’s economy contracted last quarter, bringing the country to the brink of its first recession in six years, as exports fell and consumers spent less.

Gross domestic product shrank an annualized 2.4 percent in the three months ended June 30 after expanding 3.2 percent in the first quarter, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell the most in a month.

Exports fell the most since the 2001-2002 recession, robbing Japan of the engine that drove its longest postwar expansion, while record fuel and food prices deterred spending at home. Toyota Motor Corp. last week reported its worst earnings decline in five years as U.S. sales slumped, and Japan Airlines Corp. said it will cut wages to counter rising costs.

Finish the article right here…

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