Economics
Dodgy Data That Plagued Japan in War Still Worries Policy Makers
- Finance minister says large revisions to GDP show the problem
- The stakes are high as Japan seeks to jump-start growth
Pedestrians walk past the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo.
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida joked almost 70 years ago that if Japan had kept better data, it might never have started a war with the U.S. His grandson, Finance Minister Taro Aso, worries about flawed statistics that could mislead economic policy makers today.
While Japan isn’t alone in questioning the reliability of data, the stakes are rising again as the Bank of Japan forges on with its record stimulus program and debate rages over whether the economy can withstand another sales-tax hike, planned for April 2017.