Original version

BBC World Service Online

Business Daily

Factual: Money

The daily drama of money and work from the BBC.

Business Daily: Japan's Falling Prices 

16/04/2010

Japan's Falling Prices 

BBC World Service - Business Daily, Japan's Falling Prices

Why prices are falling for consumers in Japan, and what that means for its economy.

We look at why prices are falling in Japan, and what that means for its economy. Falling prices hit company profits, and by increasing the real burden of debt, they deter new investment too.

The land of the rising sun also seems fated to be the land of falling prices. For a year or more, Japan has been stuck in deflation, a recurring problem for the world's second biggest economy over the last two decades. 

Falling prices hit company profits, and by increasing the real burden of debt, they deter new investment too. And companies have to battle hard with their rivals, to get thrifty consumers to buy their goods. The BBC's Roland Buerk reports on the price war between lunch restaurants in Tokyo.

Why is Japan so vulnerable to deflation?
Lesley Curwen asks Ken Cukier, the Japan business and finance correspondent for The Economist. 

Plus, can business students learn lessons from the British artist Damien Hirst? We hear from Jamie Anderson, Professor of Strategic Management at TiasNimbas Business School at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Business Daily

Japan's Falling Prices

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service