\- Japan slipped into a recession at the end of last year, losing its title as the world’s third-biggest economy to Germany.
\- Japan factory output falls at the fastest pace in nearly four years. Industrial output fell 7.5% in January 2024 from the previous month, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed.
\- “The plunge in industrial production in January suggests that GDP will fall yet again this quarter, which will add to the view that Japan’s economy is in recession,” said Gabriel Ng, assistant economist at Capital Economics.
\- Production declined the most in motor vehicles, down 17.8% in January from the previous month. Output decreases in regular passenger cars and electrical drives systems pulled down the overall figures.
\- Birth rate reached to historically low last year. And the administrative even says that if they don’t reverse this by 2030. There is no turning back but nose-diving crash.
And now, Warren Buffet in his annual letter claiming that he will keep holding and buying more Japanese stock for indefinite period of time as he already hold 8.5% across the group of top five firms. Buffett had previously expressed caution about investing in foreign companies, citing his inability to forecast foreign-exchange movements. Despite this, he has shown a clear interest in Japan’s economy. And he has been praising about Japan future economic several occasions now.
This is not some speculative movement, He’s talking about long-long term investment like 10+ years. I just can’t understand how can someone be optimistic about Japan economic given its aging population, birth rate, and recently performance.
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