In my last post I discussed public opinion regarding fiscal stimulus, fiscal reconstruction, and the role of the state. In this post, I'll look at public opinion concerning the behavior of Japanese companies, labor market practices, and the role of the government in promoting microeconomic or supply-side changes in the Japanese economy as a means …
Continue reading The Japanese public weighs structural reform
Joseph Stiglitz has a piece at the New York Times praising Abenomics as "a huge step in the right direction." At the same time, however, he also argues that Japan's malaise was never as bad as the popular narrative suggested. In fact, Japan, Stiglitz writes, should be viewed as a model for the United States as …
With his party's launch scheduled for 8 August, Watanabe Yoshimi has finally revealed its name.Minna no tō.Apparently the official English translation will be "Your Party." I'm not sure which is worse, the name in the original Japanese or its translation. I realize that Japanese parties have run the gamut when it comes to names, and …
Asō Tarō's decision to dissolve the Diet on 21 July and hold a general election on 30 August rippled through the LDP on Tuesday, as the prime minister's critics increasingly recognized that with the political system shifting into election mode, the window of opportunity to replace Asō is closing.Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintarō, whose position was …
Continue reading The LDP’s disorder deepens, but it remains one party — for now
How can the LDP govern Japan when it can barely govern itself?The war of attrition that has been waged between the Koizumian remnant in the LDP and the rest of the party since Koizumi stepped down as prime minister in 2006 has entered a particularly bloody phase as the Koizumians have decided to launch a …
On Tuesday the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) released the 2009 Basic Plan for Economic and Fiscal Reform (known colloquially as the honebuto), available here along with other documents from the Tuesday meeting.The plan is controversial because the Asō government appears to have sidestepped an existing agreement — originating in the 2006 honebuto …
"Shape without form, shade without colour,/Paralysed force, gesture without motion" — T.S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men"The belabored departure of Hatoyama Kunio — captured well with a quote from a more contemporary poet at Shisaku — and now the third straight defeat of an LDP candidate in a prominent mayoral election suggest that what little remained …
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 …
With the sudden departure of Nakagawa Shoichi from twin posts of finance minister and state minister responsible for the financial services agency (FSA), Yosano Kaoru has been elevated from state minister for economic and fiscal policy and now holds all three positions simultaneously, making him, to borrow a term from American politics, the Aso government's …
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 …
Tobias S. Harris 