With maybe half the population, and with housing in a slump, Japan still has more actual housing starts than the US.
While the Obama plan is ‘not my first choice’ for a fiscal adjustment, it isn’t ‘nothing’ either, and should be more than sufficient stabilize aggregate demand, albeit at low levels.
This, coupled with low and falling physical inventories, could easily set off a somewhat jobless recovery that initially shows some very high percentage increases in many areas.
The Obamaboom is on the way, along with its consequences.
Japan’s housing starts decline 19% in January
Feb 27 (Kyodo) — Japan’s housing starts fell 18.7% year on year to 70,688 units in January, the second straight month of decline, according to data released Friday by the Land Ministry.
Starts for owner-occupied houses fell 10.8% to 20,057, making for the fourth consecutive month of decline, while those for rental houses dropped 18.4% to 31,628, the second straight month of decline. Starts for condominiums for sale also fell for the second straight month, plunging 26.4% to 18,434.
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