Word: hatoyamas
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...Thankfully, in the face of mounting bad news on the budget front, Hatoyama is not stubbornly clinging to pledges of fiscal austerity. Major spending cuts have been rendered unrealistic by the current economic climate. Falling real wages and low business investment mean Japan's recovery is fragile. A recent Nikkei newspaper survey showed that 38% of top Japanese executives rated the likelihood of another downturn next year as high or somewhat high. The biggest risk, cited by 69% of respondents, was "the effect of fiscal stimulus measures wearing off." Hatoyama appears to be willing to continue stimulus spending under...
...Hatoyama is not explaining this U-turn very well - nor is his message consistent. For example, he has indicated that, in the interest of fiscal responsibility, he may toss overboard some of the $77 billion in programs that the DPJ offered to increase household disposable income. The purpose of this spending is to help shift Japan from an export-led economic model to one led by consumption. During the country's 2002-07 recovery, fully one-third of GDP growth was attributable to a rising trade surplus. As the severity of Japan's current recession showed, this...
...delaying or reducing these programs to hold down the deficit, and by repeatedly setting budget and spending targets that he is unable to keep, Hatoyama runs the risk of making it look as if he is being dragged along by events rather than taking charge of a difficult situation. He claims that this apparent waffling will not hurt the DPJ's popularity, saying recently that "the public is flexible about the [DPJ's] policy manifesto." Certainly it seems to have done no harm so far. In mid-October, the government's approval rating remained very high...
...Behind Hatoyama's flip-flops is contradictory advice from top aides. Some are telling him to stick to fiscal austerity to mollify voters' fear of ever-larger deficits - a public concern that could hurt the DPJ's chances of winning a majority in crucial July 2010 elections for the Diet's Upper House to accompany its newly won majority in the Lower House. But come next July, the DPJ would be hurt a lot worse at the polls by higher unemployment than a higher deficit. What Japan needs today is fiscal stimulus that stresses the DPJ program to shift Japan...
...recently elected Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, in his historic win, pledged to lessen the burden for local Japanese residents caused by the presence of the U.S. military, sparking fears that Japan would no longer be a steadfast ally in the military realm. The American military presence on Okinawa has been a sore spot in U.S.-Japan relations for decades because of its perceived negative social and economic effects on local communities. Okinawa is home to about two-thirds of the total 47,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan. The 2006 agreement was pushed along following a 1996 conviction...