In a vitriolic post at Shisaku, MTC goes after those who insist that despite the LDP's current crisis — which has only gotten worse since back in January when Fukuda Yasuo called it the worst since the LDP's founding — the LDP will recover as it has done before.I have encountered this argument all too …
Tag: LDP
Importing the construction state?
Amity Shlaes, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of a recent attempt to discredit the New Deal, has an op-ed in the Washington Post in which she looks at President-elect Barack Obama's newly announced public works plan.Seeing the phrase "public works," she naturally thought Japan, and wrote a piece about Japan's …
The liberals step into the breach
Watanabe Yoshimi is not relenting in threatening rebellion against the Aso government.Speaking at a fundraising party on Monday evening, Mr. Watanabe speculated openly about scenarios for political realignment. Edano Yukio, a DPJ reformist, was in attendance and stated that if Mr. Watanbe decides to leave the LDP for the DPJ, he should be welcomed with …
The fall
The Aso cabinet is in free fall.The Yomiuri Shimbun has released its December public opinion poll, which found that not only has the Aso cabinet's approval rating fallen by half since the beginning of November (from 40.5% to 20.9%), but the cabinet's disapproval rating rose by twenty-five points to 66.7% during the same span of …
Conservatives, Clientelists, and Koizumians
Asahi has published a long article illustrating the feeling of crisis that has descended upon the LDP, especially following Aso Taro's disastrous showing in the latest Nikkei poll (discussed here).After months of building, it appears that the dissolution of the LDP may finally be in motion.The LDP can be roughly divided into three broad groupings, …
Continue reading Conservatives, Clientelists, and Koizumians
The center cannot hold
A new Nikkei-TV Tokyo poll conducted at the end of November found that Prime Minister Aso Taro's approval rating is in free fall.According to the poll, Mr. Aso's approval rating fell seventeen points to 31%, while his disapproval rating rose nineteen points to 62%. Twice as many respondents oppose the government's plan for a new …
The LDP will lose the next general election
A mere two months into Aso Taro's premiership, some LDP members are already looking for a way to throw him overboard.Mainichi reports that the most vigorous criticism is from the party's young reformists — not surprisingly, as they fear for their political lives — but the Mainichi article goes on to quote various senior LDP …
Continue reading The LDP will lose the next general election
Aso in a tailspin
Prime Minister Aso Taro is in Peru for this year's APEC summit, a summit that will undoubtedly be an even greater exercise in futility than usual.At home, his administration is faltering.He is under fire from within the LDP for recent gaffes. (It was only a matter of time before Mr. Aso talked without thinking.) The …
The DPJ gambles
Prime Minister Aso Taro returned from the G20 meeting in Washington and immediately met with Ozawa Ichiro to discuss the conclusion of the extraordinary session of the Diet.The LDP and the DPJ are set for another showdown over the MSDF refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, as the DPJ has announced that it will boycott …
Two crises
In the comments section of this recent post, I have been accused of overstating Japanese decline and understating the US decline.I have actually said very little about the economic crisis in the US — and what I have said about Japan is not particularly new. For the most part I have simply updated an argument …
Tobias S. Harris 