Otherwise, Japan's exit from the deflationary quagmire might just end up pushing Korea into it.

While that would indeed have been the job description in normal times, Japan is stuck in a deflationary quagmire.

This is the deflationary quagmire which Japan sank into long ago, and which now looks set to engulf the eurozone.

With interest rates already rock-bottom, and political obstacles ranged in the way of more creative solutions, Europe could potentially sink deep into a deflationary quagmire.

Concerns that the increased levy might squeeze consumption are legitimate: the economy slipped into a deflationary quagmire after the last sales tax hike in 1997.