Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose only 2.6% on an annualized basis in the second quarter, a deep disappointment.

There has been an effort to marginalize Japan despite the experimentation of its central bank and prime minister to jump-start its economy. Some of these efforts and the change in value of the yen may have benefited businesses, but they also have driven the nation’s debt to what is considered to be unsustainable levels.

As Japan is pushed toward the periphery of the assessment of global GDP in favor of growth in the developed world, led by China and India, the giant GDP engine of the United States and the recession in Europe, it is hard to remember that Japan is still the world’s third largest nation by that measure, and therefore, counts.

According to MarketWatch:

 Japan’s economy grew an annualized 2.6% in the April-June period, the Cabinet Officer reported Monday, cooling sharply from a rapid 4.1% gain in the first calendar quarter. The result compared to an average expectation for a 3.6% gain, according to separate surveys of economists reported by Dow Jones Newswires and Reuters. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, gross domestic product rose 0.6% from the first quarter’s 0.9% increase. The economy benefitted from a relatively weak yen during the quarter, with the dollar spending most of the period above 95 yen after previously sitting below that level since 2009.

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