Japan - US Business News

Worst Recession in 60 Years?...Where were the alarm bells in Japan? - Part 2

Part 2 of excerpt of article from Edward J. Lincoln, Clinical Economics Professor at New York University, Stern School of Business and Director of the Center for Japan-U.S. Business and Economic Studies. ______________________________________________________________

Trade data for December was available, showing that exports were plummeting and in February, 4th quarter GDP data showed a stunning 12% annualized contraction—much worse than the contraction in the United States.

So, just at the point when the economy was entering a gloomy period the likes of which no one under the age of about 70 could remember in their lifetime, the newspapers stopped asking as many questions.

In April, two major newspapers asked only one economics question—"whether people approved or
disapproved of Prime Minister Aso’s proposed stimulus package."

One would think that as the evidence mounted concerning a very serious downturn in the economy, the newspapers would want to ask many questions about public experiences and opinions. One possible explanation may be that casual observation suggests the recession is just not getting as much attention in the media on a daily basis as it is in the United States.

Worst Recession in 60 Years?...Where were the alarm bells in Japan? - Part 1

The following is excerpted from an article by Edward J. Lincoln, Clinical Economics Professor at New York University, Stern School of Business and Director of the Center for Japan-U.S. Business and Economic Studies. He writes his thoughts on Japanese Newspaper Polls concerning the state of economic affairs. _________________________________________________________________________

The collection of polls monitored and translated recently provides a fascinating look at economic issues in Japan over the past nine months. Mostly they confirm my suspicion that economic problems are not getting as much attention in Japan as they are in the United States.

But the questions and responses also involve a number of odd or puzzling features of public opinion about economic issues.

Let me pick up the thread nine months ago, in August 2008. At that point in time, people should have just begun to become aware of the economic downturn in Japan. In the background was the ongoing financial crisis in the United States. Even though Japanese financial institutions had not invested heavily in American toxic assets, there was a growing recognition that the recession in the United States would have some negative impact on Japan.

Business English-Keep it Fun!

Guest Contributor, Laura Jackson, with the key to keeping her Japanese students interested.

As an instructor of English as a Second Language for over two decades, I’ve experimented with just about every type of class structure possible and keep coming back to the same basic principle:  Keep it FUN!

What exactly is business English anyway? 

Aside from a few basic formalities, by and large it’s nothing more than good old-fashioned human relations.  The more relaxed and comfortable one feels in a business meeting, the more productive it will be and the better chance you have of everyone being on the same page.

So it’s really about getting more comfortable with everyday English.  Other than knowing the jargon for a particular field, memorizing a lot of ‘business’ phrases will most likely come off stiff and awkward.

I like to use word games in my lessons to help students loosen up and not worry so much about blowing it.  I also use interesting DVDs to make listening practice engaging and enjoyable.   But my hands down favorite is scanning that day’s newspaper and figuring out what the headlines mean. 

And last but not least we have idioms, idioms and more idioms.  Every day the English language veers further away from the textbook English we were all taught in school and moves closer to an idiomatic puzzle.   Can you pick out all the idioms I used in this essay?

The Learning Curve

Idioms used in this post. 

By and large – Generally Speaking.

Be on the same page – Having a common understanding of something OR being in agreement.

Come off – to produce a certain result OR appear to be.

Blow it – make a mistake OR fail.

Hands down – Easily OR without question (usually used as ‘hands down favorite’ or ‘hands down winner’).

Figure out –to solve a problem, puzzle or mystery.

Last but not least – mentioned last, but not the least important.

Stay tuned for more lessons. The Learning Curve will soon be launched as a new feature of Japan-US Business News. _______________________________________________________________________________________

Laura Jackson, English Instructor to many Japanese business men & PR Maven of Wasabi PR, a socially and environmentally conscious publicity company in New York City.

MUFG and Morgan Stanley's "Strategic" Tie up in Japan

This month, Guest Contributor Michael Green, looks at the tie up between MUFG and Morgan Stanley. Is it a match made in heaven?

It has been about 7 months since Morgan Stanley and MUFG entered into a mutual agreement to form a “strategic alliance”. First of all let’s call a spade a spade. The unfortunate truth is that Morgan Stanley was forced into this deal which was marketed to the world as a "strategic alliance" or a “strategic partnership” but the reality is that it was a move of desperation. I am not criticizing Morgan’s moves indeed it did what it had to survive.

Back at the end of 2008 Morgan Stanley and many of its peers faced a dire situation. They needed capital badly. Morgan Stanley approached several institutions for help over a period of 2-3 weeks including Citibank and the Chinese sovereign wealth fund for help. There was none to be found. About a week or two later Morgan Stanley found help in the form of MUFG.  The agreement was that Morgan would sell 21% of itself for $9 billion USD and “partner” with MUFG. This deal was announced on Oct 13, 2008.

Since then not much happened with this partnership until March of 2009 when it was announced that the Japanese operations of Morgan and MUFG will merge by 2010 with MUFG calling the shots with 60% of ownership and 40% for Morgan Stanley. This is the first such move in the “strategic alliance”.

New Kind of Ambassador in Tokyo---more comments

Pauline C. Reich, Professor Waseda University School of Law.  Director, Asia-Pacific Cyberlaw, Cybercrime and Internet Security Research Institute
General Editor, CYBERCRIME AND SECURITY (Oxford University Press), writes:

[ Delighted to see this appointment. We need to inject American creativity, vision, enthusiasm to a country that needs some fresh air. Too much lip service is paid to innovation and globalization, not enough to actual implementation.

Japan is still the second largest economy in the world, and important, however the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and other speakers at a conference held in Tokyo told Japanese leaders over 10 years ago that if they were not more flexible, the US would shift its priorities to China...

Our longstanding friendship and strong collaborations require that both partners listen to one another....

Hopefully that will be the result of this new appointment.

Looking forward to seeing great accomplishments in such areas as IT and Cyberlaw, a correction in the recent nationalism, an improvement in higher education and research (note OECD report on tertiary education in Japan), more opportunities for non-Japanese professors and researchers, particularly women, including funding for research projects, non-Japanese women in administration of great universities, inclusion of non-Japanese women professors in research groups, etc. The Silicon Valley culture is a good example for Japan, and I hope the new ambassador and his staff will provide more awareness to his counterparts. Hopefully, Secretary Clinton will also provide more.... ]

New Kind of Ambassador in Tokyo---comment

Guest Contributor and reader, William Laurent in NY writes:

[ It will be interesting to see how he proposes to simultaneously work with Japan as a strategic partner to counter growing Chinese military influence and maintain a very important status quo for Japan—that of China being their top trading partner.]

Laura Jackson, English Instructor & PR Maven of Wasabi PR, a socially and environmentally conscious publicity company in NY writes: 

 [ My main concern would be his lack of Japan experience, however, it might be good to have someone fresh going over.  Someone who can fall in love with Japan for the first time and see it clearer than experts who have oodles of experience there.  One can always consult experts, but to approach Japan without an arsenal of predetermined opinions has its own benefits.]