CokkoCokkoCokkoKekko♪ [Mori Akira]

Mori Akira's Profile

Economist. Affiliated with a think tank (United States). Specializes in exchange rate policy, monetary policy, macroeconomic policy, and financial regulation. Interacts with market participants, financial authorities, and policy makers, and analyzes exchange rate movements from multiple angles.

※This article is a reprint/re-edited from FX攻略.com December 2019 issue. Please note that the market information described in the text may differ from current market conditions.

Dear readers, are you familiar with the commercial song that goes "Kokkokkoko kokke keko—♪ I am from the house ♪ egg noodles ~ ♪…"? Probably younger generations do not know it.

In Japan, the price of "eggs" is considered an indicator of low inflation due to its small price fluctuations. Even for the eggs, which are inflationary favorites, prices fluctuate due to the economic mechanism (supply and demand). It is Adam Smith's 'invisible hand'.

In 2019, egg prices fell to historically low levels. Why did egg prices fall to this low level? An economist analyzed that this was related to the egg price staying above 220 yen on average in 2015, due to oversupply (farmers competing by expanding facilities and increasing the number of chickens kept for production).

We will not analyze egg prices further in this issue. However, to think about the next monetary policy of central banks, I would like to discuss 'prices'.