[The rise in oil prices] wouldn't be quite as calamitous in Japan as it would in the U.S., where the people are more energy-dependent, ... Even though Japan may be efficient in its use of oil, like everyone else it still crimps your monthly budget. They're paying more for gasoline, so they're not immune to that.

290

I think that it is an excellent school, but it ought also to be a model for how to conduct employee relations, between an employer and an employee, and I don't think that it does that.

230

The package available now isn't getting any better. We have moved as far as we can move.

183

Manufacturing is picking up in the second half. Pharmaceuticals can be enormously volatile, but overall they are on an uptrend.

178

You can argue that it's in everybody's interest to maintain a positive spin, but the point is the fundamentals in Indonesia and across the region are healthier than the case in 1997-98, particularly with most of the countries running current account surpluses and not dependent on borrowings from overseas.

177

Consumer spending, together with domestic investment spending, are leaving the Japanese economy a little less dependent on exports. Over the past decade, Japan has been notoriously unable to develop a self-sustaining recovery. We're gradually getting out of that rut.

152

Exports held up at a solid increase and imports have been in a more moderate range, after skyrocketing in the middle of the year.

129

They have one of the largest foreign reserves holdings in the world and rather than put it in (US) treasury bills, one way to diversify it is through their portfolio managers.

120

The continuing demand in South Korea's biggest markets is serving as the driving force.

86