Japanese economy stumbles toward recovery

摘要

The pattern of continuing robust growth in the U.S. certainly has not been matched by the Japanese economy, which remains mired in recession. For the fourth quarter of 1999 Japanese real GDP declined at a 5.5% annual rate, following a 3.9% annual rate of decline in the third quarter. This makes 1999 an extremely odd year for Japanese GDP, since it rose at annual rates of 6.3% and 3.9% for the first two quarters of the year. The usual complaints have been voiced about the quality of the Japanese statistics, which are actually grossly inferior to those issued by U.S. government agencies, yet there seems to be little doubt that Japanese real GDP did not advance last year.