A snap election in Japan would have mixed implications for investors. A renewed mandate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would provide political certainty. But that will probably come with an accompanying tax hike that dents economic growth and, in turn, be offset by yet more market-friendly monetary policy. Abe could soon call an October election, Reuters says, citing government sources. That makes sense: his popularity crashed earlier this year but has rebounded amid heightened tensions over North Korea. The shambolic opposition polls far below Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party. It is also too early for one potential rival, Tokyo Governor Yuriko

PM May surprised most people last week by announcing that the UK is to hold a snap election on June 8th. Outlining her motivation for calling an early election, something she had previously ruled out, PM May said “[T]he country is coming together but Westminster is not” Her concern is that such large and all-too-visible parliamentary divisions over Brexit hinders her government’s ability to get the best deal out of Brussels [1]. This all sounds very laudable – PM May putting the UK’s economic and financial interests before her personal political ambitions [2]. However, the move is not entirely selfless, it is