According to Helene Cooper of the New York Times, "President Obama will arrive in Tokyo on Friday, at a time when America’s relations with Japan are at their most contentious since the trade wars of the 1990s."...

In case you had not noticed, the IMF is blogging and it is not "merely" the garden variety IMF staffers they are rolling out to fill the pages; nope here we are treated to the likes of Blanchard, Atkinson, Lipsky, Cottarelli and a host of other of the Fund's A-listers...

Although the job situation in Japan has improved slightly and there are signs of an improvement in the economy overall, it’s no surprise to anyone reading this blog that uncertainty remains...