When A Surge In Activity Is Actually Quite Ominous

By |2014-05-06T10:28:36-04:00May 6th, 2014|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets, Taxes/Fiscal Policy|

March household spending in Japan surged by 7.2% Y/Y, the highest spending growth rate since 1975. That level even beat out March 1997, the month before the previous and similar tax hike. Extrapolating from that one number, there is now more hope that the Japanese economy may be able to withstand April’s tax intrusion without an economic disaster like that [...]