The writer is a senior economist at JPMorgan
Over the past few weeks, Japan’s government bond yields have surged to highs last seen in the 1990s — raising eyebrows both in Tokyo and elsewhere in the world. Ostensibly, this latest jump was a reaction to the mulling of a temporary consumption tax holiday on food. Given the relentless rise in the cost of staples — rice prices have doubled — the tax cut strikes a chord in an economy where the cost of living has barely changed in a generation.