Global Economic Analysis and News of Note
- The Japanese economy contracted at a 1.9 percent annualized rate in the third quarter of 2014. The decline was nearly four times more significant than the 0.5 percent contraction analysts had predicted. A drop in business investment drove the negative report. Taro Saito, from Tokyo’s NLI Research Institute told Bloomberg, the “report shows a pretty bleak picture of Japan’s economy” but that “the weakening yen should provide a boost to manufacturers and those benefits will penetrate through a wide range of industries.”