I am sure I am not the only one here tonight who is looking askance at the progressive financialisation of the economy. The “Occupy Wall Street” movement, which grabbed the headlines this year, and its equally confused copycats elsewhere, seem to speak to the same concern.
The Japan premium remains negligible. Yields on long-term government bonds declined and, in late January, reached around 1.60-1.65 percent. But then they rebounded in reaction to the depreciation of the yen and the developments in the stock market, and are presently around 1.85 percent.