Japan: A costly missed chance

Atsushi Mizuno is only hawk on the Bank of Japan’s rate-setting committee. He emitted a lonelier cry than usual on Thursday, when he said that a cut in the overnight interest rate wouldn’t necessarily keep Japan from going in the opposite direction. He would like to see an increase from the current exiguous 0,5% rate. But Japan may have already missed its best chance to get rates up. Not that Mizuno – the only one of nine board members to support an increase in recent months – is wrong. Ultra-l...