TOKYO—Japan has virtually given up on reaching 2% inflation after nearly six years of trying. An argument gaining ground in Tokyo holds that the inflation goal, once seen as paramount, doesn’t matter so much after all. “Employment is more important than targeting prices,” said Koichi Hamada, an economist and retired Yale University professor who was one of the architects of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pro-growth Abenomics policy.

Source: Wall Street Journal December 21, 2018 10:33 UTC