Japanese Economy Shrinks Despite Government Spending
The Japanese government announced today that the world's second-largest economy continued to shrink for an unprecedented fourth quarter in the three months that ended in September, despite a boost from government spending.</br></br>In addition, the government announced that for the first time in its history, the value of the national and local governments' debts will exceed the nation's total economic output at the end of this fiscal year.</br></br>"Basically there is no recovery in sight," said Yasuhiko Ushikubo, an economist with the Industrial Bank of Japan.</br></br>The United States and other nations have urged Japan to revive its economy as fears mount that Japan's woes could prolong economic turmoil in Asia and threaten the rest of the global economy.</br></br>Japan's gross domestic product -- the value of all goods and services produced -- contracted 0.7 percent in the July-September period, for an annual rate of 2.6 percent.