Japan's Abe Wants Tax Hike Discussions In November

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants talks to begin on whether to raise the country's consumption tax from 8% to 10% in 2015.

According to the Japan Times:

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has signaled his intent to bring forward to November the start of talks on raising the consumption tax rate to 10 percent in 2015, adding he hopes to reach a final decision in December.

The raising of the consumption tax in April from 5% to 8% caused a negative reaction.

As the article pointed out:

According to recent government data, GDP in the April-June period nose-dived a real 7.1 percent from the previous quarter on an annualized basis due to impact of the April tax hike. It was the biggest contraction since GDP plummeted 15 percent from January to March 2009 on the heels of the global financial crisis that erupted the previous year.

As I've blogged before, raising the consumption tax in April was a dumb idea. Raising it again would be another exercise in stupidity.

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