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English Idiom: Move the needle
Many experts say the Japanese government needs to move the needle on the economy.
Everyone has heard this.
The economy has been sluggish for quite a few years now.
Moving the needle means making a significant change to something.
It’s time for the government to do something, anything, to change the country’s situation and stimulate the economy.
We’ve had quantitative easing (QE), sales tax increases, negative interest rates, stimulus spending, and even talk about ‘helicopter money.’
It’s a good thing they don’t talk about ‘Osprey’ money—if you live in Japan, you might get the joke.
Things are still getting cheaper.
From my personal experience, it’s much less expensive to live in Japan than in Canada (my experience does not include Tokyo).
Prices and wages in Japan have not changed very much over the last 18 – 20 years that I have lived in Japan.
The experts say that something needs to happen to move the needle and happen soon.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 63.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.