Japan Initiates Bold Bid to End Years of Tumbling Prices

[Art_from_Ark]

5. As someone who is living in Japan,

Last edited Fri Apr 5, 2013, 11:26 AM - Edit history (1)

the falling prices I have seen have mostly been welcome, though not everything has fallen in price.

Where prices have fallen, it has sometimes been because cheap Chinese crap has replaced better Japanese-made stuff.

Sometimes, lower prices are due to increased purchasing power of the strong yen in international markets.

Sometimes, lower prices are the result of conservation efforts to, for example, recycle plastics, rare earth metals, etc., rather than constantly buying new raw materials.

Sometimes, lower prices are the result of market saturation (How many new cars can 8 different domestic automakers and several foreign automakers sell in Japan, which already has 60 million vehicles on the road that are nearly all in great running condition?)

Just raising prices for the sake of raising prices is going to hurt a lot of people on fixed incomes, and others like me who will have no chance for getting a raise to offset rising prices.