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b_b  ·  3057 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Bank of Japan's $2.5 Billion Plan to Buy Non-Existent ETFs

    The central bank is aware such products aren’t yet available and in the meantime will buy ETFs tracking the JPX-Nikkei Index 400, a government-backed equity measure started last year that chooses companies based on return on equity and operating profit. The BOJ also already purchases ETFs linked to the Nikkei 225 Stock Average and Topix index and owns roughly half of the market for ETFs in Japan.

This certainly invites the question of whether a "government-backed equity measure" should even be a thing. Greenspan (the Ayn Rand disciple) decided in 1987 that the US government wasn't going to let the Dow fall, and in so doing ruined the stock market. Socialized losses and privatized gains have been official policy here for almost 30 years, so I suppose it's no wonder that other governments would want to keep pace. Gotta attract the best minds.