Turbulent times in the land of the rising sun

It has been a turbulent couple of months for policy makers in Japan.

First, there was the surprise move to expand the monetary base by ¥10trn a year to ¥80trn, after the Bank of Japan's policy setting board voted 5-4 to enlarge its asset purchasing programme. Snap election and unexpected recession This followed Japan unexpectedly falling in to recession, as the economy shrunk by  an annualised 1.6% in the third quarter. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe responded with an 18-month delay to a planned second hike in consumption tax, and decided to call a snap election, scheduled for 14 December. Abe is portraying this election as a referendum where voters ...