....not.
From todays BBC report here,
"Japan's economy unexpectedly shrank for the second consecutive quarter, leaving the world's third largest economy in technical recession.
Gross domestic product (GDP) fell at an annualised 1.6% from July to September, compared with forecasts of a 2.1% rise
That followed a revised 7.3% contraction in the second quarter, which was the biggest fall since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Economists said the weak economic data could delay a sales tax rise."
As we speculated on this blog a couple of months ago, rises in sales taxes don't end up well. But for some reason mainstream economists think they are the least bad option.
Coincidentally, I was reading this piece by Mason Gaffney last night "Europe's fatal affair with VAT", which chimes in with what Mark has been banging on about on his blog for years.
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