Don’t believe the hype! Swine flu & the Japanese Economy

Ken Worsley writes on blog, Japan Economy News, that the Japanese media is putting another spin on their spin on the H1N1 virus and the economy. Check out what he has to say.

“An article published yesterday at the Japan Times opens by telling us that the H1N1 swine flu virus is hurting industries such as tourism and retail, especially in Western Japan. Of course, economists fear that the impact of swine flu will only make a bad situation worse.

Near the top of the article, however, we get this quote:

The outbreak “could pour cold water on the Japanese economy at a time when it just started to bottom out and was about to recover,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc.

Emphasis mine. The writers of the article never comment on whether or not this assertion is true, and no figures are provided to back it up. We’re simply supposed to accept the assertion that the economy has “bottomed out” at face value? While it’s certainly hard to imagine seeing anything resembling the previous quarter’s GDP figures coming up again sometime soon, and exports and production figures are looking better, that doesn’t necessarily mean things have bottomed out.” Read the rest of the story here. For you Tweeters, check Ken Worsely here.