by NICK BEAMS
Last week’s decision by the Bank of Japan to double the country’s money supply over the next two years through massive purchases of long-term government bonds will both fuel the deepening global economic crisis and stimulate further attacks on the Japanese working class.
Japan has not only joined the program of “quantitative easing” being carried out by other major central banks, it has done so at twice the rate being undertaken by the US Federal Reserve Board.
It is a measure of the depth of the crisis of the global economy that the policies now being initiated—shovelling unlimited amounts of money into the coffers of the banks—which only a few years ago would have been dismissed as being too risky, have now become standard operating procedure.
While the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has insisted that its unprecedented actions are solely aimed at stimulating the domestic economy, the massive injection of money will have far-reaching global consequences. It will tend to push down the value of the Japanese currency, thereby providing a boost to Japanese corporations in the increasingly desperate fight for global markets.
Major trading countries, including China, South Korea, Brazil and Australia, as well as countries throughout South-East Asia, whose currency values will be boosted by the decision, are directly in the firing line.
Economists in China, who advise the country’s central bank, are reported to be “livid” over the decision, criticising the BoJ’s actions as starting a currency war. They have called on the Peoples Bank of China (PBoC) to respond by taking action to push down the value of the yuan.
<a href="It is a measure of the depth of the crisis of the global economy that the policies now being initiated—shovelling unlimited amounts of money into the coffers of the banks—which only a few years ago would have been dismissed as being too risky, have now become standard operating procedure. While the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has insisted that its unprecedented actions are solely aimed at stimulating the domestic economy, the massive injection of money will have far-reaching global consequences. It will tend to push down the value of the Japanese currency, thereby providing a boost to Japanese corporations in the increasingly desperate fight for global markets. Major trading countries, including China, South Korea, Brazil and Australia, as well as countries throughout South-East Asia, whose currency values will be boosted by the decision, are directly in the firing line. Economists in China, who advise the country’s central bank, are reported to be “livid” over the decision, criticising the BoJ’s actions as starting a currency war. They have called on the Peoples Bank of China (PBoC) to respond by taking action to push down the value of the yuan.
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