Bloomberg conducted a survey recently about whether Shinzo Abe should postpone the planned sales tax increase and what impact it would have if he did. The results?

Japanese shares could plunge 10 percent or more if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fails to carry through on a plan to raise a sales tax in April.

Postponing an increase would have a large and negative impact on Japan's financial markets, said 22 of 32 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. JPMorgan Chase & Co. Senior Economist Masamichi Adachi said a delay could push stocks down 10 percent, wiping out $418 billion in market capitalization, while UBS AG Economist Daiju Aoki predicted a sell-off as steep as 12 percent in the Nikkei 225 Stock Average.

Where the hell do they find these economists? Do any of them actually invest money in real markets? There are a lot of things wrong with the Japanese economy and they definitely have a debt/deficit problem but a lack of taxes or tax revenue is not among them. The corporate tax rate is 38%, the highest marginal income tax rate is 50% (including local taxes), payroll taxes are about 25% and the sales tax is already 5%. Tax revenue is 28% of GDP which should be more than sufficient to fund government. What Japan needs is more growth and less government, not more taxes. 

So here's my bold prediction: if Abe raises the sales tax the Japanese stock market will go down and if he postpones it the stock market will rise. What he should do is call for a repeal of the sales tax increase and a cut of all the other taxes. That would do a lot more to solve the deficit than raising any tax. Here's another tip: never, ever get your investment advice from an economist.