Japan's First Quarter Growth is Relevant to Its Second Quarter Contraction

The NYT ran an AP article on the contraction in Japan's economy in the 2nd quarter of 2014. The article noted the 6.8 percent annual rate of contraction and told readers that this posed a real problem for Abenomics.

While this rate of decline is undoubtedly a cause of concern, it would have been worth mentioning that its economy grew at a 6.7 percent annual rate in the first quarter. The big factor in this seesaw was a sharp rise in the consumption tax that went into effect in April. This ta...