Title: Japan's Economy
Headings: Japan - Economy
Japan - Economy
Content: GDP figures show real wages fell by 3.8 percent in the second quarter this year, outstripping the 2 percent decline in the second quarter of 2009, when the global financial crisis was wreaking havoc. Kiuchi said the impact on earnings had materialized sooner than expected. He feared it could precipitate a negative spiral where shrinking incomes lead to a decline in spending, which triggers a further deterioration in business conditions and, in turn, a continued decline in wages. Kiuchi added that the after-effects of an economic crisis tend to be more serious and last longer than expected. He noted that in the decade or so since the global financial crisis, Japan's industrial production had failed to rescale its pre-2008 heights, and was now declining again due to the pandemic. He said it will remain weak for some time because consumption had begun to slow again due to a resurgence in the virus in some parts of the world. Since taking office in 2012, Abe has worked to revive Japan's economy using three "arrows" – flexible fiscal mobilization, monetary measures, and structural reform. The policy, aptly dubbed Abenomics, had proven particularly effective on two fronts: stock prices, and the jobless rate. At the end of 2012, the Nikkei Average was hovering around the 10,000 yen mark.