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How nations can counter Trump's trade trickery
Oped, Koichi Hamada, Published on 10/05/2025
» Much has been written about US President Donald Trump's disastrous "reciprocal" tariffs, which, despite having remained in effect for less than 24 hours, roiled the stock market, drove up Treasury yields, and caused the dollar to depreciate. In fact, the tariffs that have so badly undermined markets' faith in the US were never reciprocal at all: they were entirely unilateral actions betraying a fundamental misunderstanding of economics.
Monetary policy really needs to tighten in Japan
Oped, Koichi Hamada, Published on 12/11/2024
» Last month, returning to Japan for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, I was struck by how significantly prices had increased. In February 2020, a simple lunch in downtown Tokyo cost about JP¥1,000, then the equivalent of about $10 (324 baht); today, it costs more like JP¥2,000. To some extent, this mirrors the experience in the US, where, even as inflation moderates, prices remain well above their pre-pandemic levels. The difference is that Japan has also experienced a sharp currency depreciation, which benefits foreign visitors: that JP¥2,000 bill translated to just $13.