The Eurasia Group's Ian Bremmer has an op-ed in the IHT in which he argues that despite widespread pessimism among Japanese regarding their country's future, things may not be so bad. Basically he suggests that the DPJ may well be learning to get along with business elites and bureaucrats, Japan and the US may be …
Tag: economic crisis
Asō makes a pun
Speaking before the Upper House Budget Committee on Monday, Prime Minister Asō Tarō reached a new low for an LDP leader attacking the opposition DPJ.Asō was addressing the debate regarding the DPJ's plans to finance new spending by cutting wasteful spending and tapping the so-called "buried treasure" of Kasumigaseki, surpluses in the government's numerous special …
Is the government running out of options — or out of options already?
The political system is gearing up for a debate over the government's 15 trillion yen stimulus package that could decide the timing and the outcome of the next general election.Kan Naoto has indicated that if the government is open to revising the plan, the DPJ will cooperate to smooth its passage. What choice does the …
Continue reading Is the government running out of options — or out of options already?
The Aso government’s need for speed
Ozawa Ichiro, marking the third anniversary of his leadership of the DPJ, gave a long (and rambling) press conference at DPJ headquarters to mark the occasion.In the midst of Ozawa's winding and evasive answers to questions pertaining to North Korea's rocket launch, political strategy, the coming general election, and economic policy, it is hard to …
April is the cruelest month
April is here, the new fiscal year has begun, and Prime Minister Aso Taro is in London for the G20 summit.For once, he leaves behind a favorable domestic situation. After months of bad news, with his approval ratings skirting single digits, the press is full of reports about how Aso and DPJ President Ozawa Ichiro …
Japan loves risk (Noah Smith)
In the past year, Japan's exports fell 45.7%. Exports to all regions were hit - down 52% to America, 45% to China, and 46.7% to Asia as a whole. Japan's mighty national champions, its automakers, have been hit the worst: Toyota's exports are off 56.2%, Honda's 46.3%, Nissan's 62.1%.That's absolutely stunning. It is catastrophic. Words …
Shop for Japan? (Noah Smith)
It has often been said, by this writer and others that Japan needs to "raise domestic consumption" in light of the current economic crisis. In actuality, this is a murky concept. There are a number of different reasons for this, and a number of ways it can be done.Reason 1: Correcting international imbalances. "Surplus" countries …
The long and short of it (Noah Smith)
Gerald Curtis's article in the Financial Times deserves a response from me as well. The short version of my response is that I agree with Tobias: the fact that the DPJ will not be able to avert a depression is not sufficient reason to write them off.The longer version is this: Curtis is right when …
A pox on both their houses?
Writing in the Financial Times, Columbia's Gerald Curtis laments the impotence of politicians from both the LDP and the DPJ in the midst of a historic economic crisis.The LDP, he writes, is "like the proverbial deer staring into the headlights...paralysed by fear rather than energized by it." But the DPJ is little better, as he …
Nakagawa will not survive
Nakagawa Shoichi's behavior at the G7 meeting in Rome — the slurred speech heard around the world — has quickly become a full-blown scandal.With the rallying cry of "exposing disgraceful behavior," the DPJ, the SDPJ, the JCP, and the PNP are preparing to submit a (non-binding) censure motion in the upper house.Mr. Nakagawa will go …
Tobias S. Harris 