Higher interest rates in the United States and other countries mean investors can make bigger returns on investments there than they can in Japan. This encourages carry trades, in which investors borrow money in yen to invest it in higher-yielding assets priced in other currencies. That weakens the Japanese currency. A Big Mac costs 50% more in the next cheapest G10 currency, the New Zealand dollar, than it does in yen, he added. … and lots of drawbacksBut the falling yen has caused much pain at home and not just for small businesses like Japan Fraise.

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Persons: hasn’t, Hiroko Ishikawa, “ It’s, ” Ishikawa, “, we’re, We’re, Himari Semans, That’s, ” Nigel Green, Kit Juckes, Warren Buffett, ” Sean Callow, ”, Sato Hitomi, Semans, I’ve, —, Laura He, Chris Lau Organizations: Tokyo CNN, US, Reserve, CNN, Nikkei, Bank of Japan, deVere, greenback, Labor, Societe Generale, New Zealand, Japan’s National Tourism Organization, Tokyo’s Locations: Hong Kong, Tokyo, Japan, United States, Sydney, Hawaii