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To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (11453)	5/9/1998 7:50:00 AM
From: Alex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116832

Japan, U.S. to 'cooperate' on yen By Junichi Abe Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent LONDON--Finance Minister Hikaru Matsunag ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Junichi Abe Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent LONDON -- Finance Minister Hikaru Matsunaga and U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin on Friday expressed concern over the yen's "excessive" depreciation against the dollar and agreed to "cooperate closely" in the foreign exchange markets. But Matsunaga and Rubin stopped short of clarifying what kinds of steps they might jointly take in the markets, according to statements issued by the two countries. They met for bilateral talks ahead of the finance ministerial meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations scheduled for Friday afternoon. During the talks, Matsunaga said the excessively weak yen was causing Japan's trade surplus to grow and Asian currencies to depreciate, to which Rubin agreed. "Although there is a tendency for Japan's trade surplus to grow, it is mostly affected by the excessively depreciated yen," Matsunaga told reporters after the meeting with Rubin. "We will take appropriate actions to rectify it ( the situation) at the appropriate time." According to an official accompanying Matsunaga, the finance minister's meeting with Rubin was significant in that two agreed that the weakening yen was a major cause of Japan's trade surplus. Rubin has recently warned against an export-driven recovery of the Japanese economy. "The latest agreement (between Matsunaga and Rubin) made it clear that Japan's economic stimulus measures are aimed at expanding domestic demand and that the falling yen is a major cause of the growing trade surplus," the official said. Rubin welcomed Matsunaga's pledge that Japan will implement a 16.65 trillion yen economic stimulus package as soon as possible but urged more measures to strengthen the Japanese financial sector and push structural reforms, including the Big Bang reforms. Matsunaga and Rubin also agreed that Japan-U.S. cooperation is needed to stabilize the Asian financial markets.

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (11453)	5/9/1998 2:49:00 PM
From: PaulM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116832

About y2k, ask any cobol programmer whether their y2k fix will work: "we'll find out in a couple of years" is the response. It will create plenty of work and cause lots of delays. Very messy. BUT, I think it's relatively easy to prevent the disaster scenarios people are envisioning. IMO it shouldn't affect POG unless physical buying overbrudens already distorted market. And, just based on my own knowledge of computing/programming, it seems to me that what's common about systems in need of Y2k solutions is easy to fix. It's the system specific stuff (the testing necessary with respect to that particular spaghetti that's developed over many years) that's hard. So I can't imagine a magic fix supplied by one co. IMO very few "pure" y2k plays will live up to valuation. Most of the work will be done by the same consulting firms, same consultants or (in the case of hardware) same suppliers that already lead their respective industries. P.S. But I work with lots of inventors, cs and ee types who think that y2k will hit like "an iceberg." I work with some that do not.

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (11453)	5/9/1998 3:27:00 PM
From: PaulM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116832

Bobby, I like the notes about inflation. We have to look at the REAL world of REAL things and REAL activity to understand the economy (really!) You have to laugh when you hear that the CPI must "overstate" inflation because otherwise it implies--surprise, surprise--American real wages have been falling since the 70's. The REAL world evidence that Real wages have fallen inlude: 1. The two worker family. 2. For young people, a) putting off marriage, b) putting off purchasing of a first home, c) putting off leaving the parents, d) putting off having children 3. Fewer children. 4. Increased expednitures on education. Meaning that the wages that are gotten today are gotten only after an up-front investment is made, during which the worker is non only not-paid, but is paying. And many, many more.

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (11453)	5/9/1998 4:46:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 116832

Y2K (Year 2000) INDEX - No Discussions; No Stock information; Only Index Posts! Subject 20812 ' This thread is a fast way to find information on Y2K issues. This thread is NOT for promoting specific stocks. This thread is NOT for discussion on Y2K. No questions, no posts to separate articles on Y2K; no stock hyping. It is for finding Y2K information posted on: - 'Y2K impact on stock market & society'. - 'Year 2000 (Y2K) Embedded Systems & Infrastructure Problem' - 'Y2K (Year 2000) Personal Contingency Planning' - other Websites relating to Y2K. Thw only posts allowed are containing an INDEX to specific Y2K issues. An index contains AT LEAST some 6-8 links to different Y2K articles posted on SI or elsewhere on the WEB. This is therefore a LOW Volume and (hopefully) high value thread ;-). John Mansfield

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (11453)	5/9/1998 4:47:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116832

FOCUS-ECB policy choice vital for trust-Issing 12:14 p.m. May 08, 1998 Eastern By Mark Thompson VIENNA, May 8 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank faces a tough task establishing its credibility before the euro's launch, making the right choice of monetary policy absolutely vital, ECB board nominee Otmar Issing said on Friday. The Bundesbank chief economist, who has been nominated for a full eight-year term on the board of the Frankfurt-based ECB, said it was extremely difficult to predict the reaction of global financial markets and capital flows in January. ''We are confronted with so many uncertainties to which there are no simple answers...gaining credibility in these circumstances is extremely tough,'' Issing said at a conference organised by the Austrian National Bank (OeNB). He said the start of the third stage of EMU, in which 11 countries will swap their currencies for the euro, would take place against a ''particularly difficult backdrop.'' ''The ECB must generate trust in its policy without having the opportunity to present a track record of many years,'' Issing said. ''How much the accumulated credibility of the national central banks will be transferred to the ECB is an open question.'' The senior German central banker said the ECB's choice of which monetary targets to set to achieve its primary aim of price stability could prove crucial to creating trust. ''One has to do everything to ensure that the monetary union begins as tension-free as possible. From this point of view the choice of monetary policy strategy plays a decisive role,'' he said in his speech. Issing, who has argued for a mixture of money supply targeting with inflation monitoring, said that according to the Bundesbank, the Bank of France and several other central banks, a money supply target should be the core of ECB policy. But given possible instability and turbulence at the launch of monetary union, inflationary targeting should be used as an additional tool. Differences between ECB board nominees have already begun to emerge over where the policy emphasis should lie. Bank of Finland governor Sirrka Hamalainen said on Friday it was her personal view that the ECB should put an inflation target ahead of a money supply goal. But she said the issue required further analysis and she did not want to take a final view on the matter at this stage. Issing told bankers in Vienna that he wanted to see the ECB continue the Bundesbank's policy of open dialogue to see ''how we can manage this extremely difficult starting period.'' ''The gap between what we know and what we have to do was never greater -- I am fully aware of the problem,'' he said. ''What we need is as much information as possible.'' The 11 states taking part in EMU had to start converging on a common euro interest rate that had not yet been determined. Trying to predict that that would be based on the current average of the 11 countries' national rates was misleading. ''I don't find that very helpful. Average calculations are redundant and they are also misleading -- nobody yet knows the benchmark,'' he told reporters on the fringes of the OeNB conference. Issing said the effectiveness of ECB efforts to achieve price stability would only be truly assessed after one or two years. ''In 1999 and well into 2000 the inflation rate in the EMU area will still reflect the monetary policies of the national central banks,'' he said. National central banks had to act as if EMU had begun on Monday, after the weekend EU summit at which the starting line-up was agreed and bilateral exchange rates fixed, to prevent ''any build up in inflation in the interim period so as not to make the life of the ECB more difficult,'' he said. ''I am convinced this period will be managed in the proper way.'' ((Vienna Newsroom 43-1-531 12274, vienna.newsroom+reuters.com)) REUTERS Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.