Current location:Worldly Wisdom news portal > opinions
VOX POPULI: Leadership skills of the past are missing in the politics of today
Worldly Wisdom news portal2024-04-30 19:41:11【opinions】7People have gathered around
IntroductionU.S. economist Joseph Dodge (1890-1964) arrived in occupied Japan in 1949 as the financial adviser t
U.S. economist Joseph Dodge (1890-1964) arrived in occupied Japan in 1949 as the financial adviser to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.
Tasked with implementing postwar economic stabilization programs, which came to be known as the Dodge Line, he stated during a news conference on March 7 of 75 years ago that Japan’s economy had been standing on stilts.
Noting that the pair of stilts consisted of U.S. aid and Japanese government subsidies, Dodge called for a super-balanced budget policy.
In the immediate postwar era, Japan was supported by massive amounts of U.S. aid that far exceeded its own annual budget.
And Japanese government subsidies were used to pay the difference generated by export import controls.
Dodge insisted that the only way to curb Japan’s hyperinflation was to lop off those “stilts.”
This seriously alarmed the then-Democratic Liberal Party (Minshu Jiyu-to) Cabinet of Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida (1878-1967), who had just won the general election of January 1949 by a landslide after pledging massive tax cuts.
Implementing an austerity policy would constitute an outright breach of the party’s election pledge.
His finance minister, Hayato Ikeda (1899-1965), was in a bind.
He held repeated negotiations with Dodge, hoping, at least, to carry out partial tax cuts.
But the budget outlook could not have been more different from what the party had pledged, and intraparty dissatisfaction erupted.
At one point, Ikeda was said to have been prepared to step down.
Ultimately, Yoshida basically “shut everyone up and got the budget approved,” recalled former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa (1919-2007) in his memoir.
Miyazawa was Ikeda’s policy aide at the time.
The drastic budget-balancing “remedy” served to bring the nation’s hyperinflation under control, but it also caused severe side effects.
A great number of small and midsize enterprises went belly-up, and many workers were let go around the nation in what came to be called the “Dodge recession.”
In July 1950, the stock average plummeted to 85.25, the lowest level ever.
And on March 4 this year, the Nikkei stock average topped 40,000 for the first time.
The nation’s “stilts” economy is a thing of a long-past era, but I feel uneasy.
Perhaps that’s because I don’t see any politician today agonizing over the weight of their election pledge or asserting leadership to forge party unity.
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 5
* *
*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Address of this article:http://brunei.whetstonetavern.com/html-9e199989.html
Very good!(7)
Related articles
- Supreme Court will hear case claiming CBD product got trucker fired
- Food quality, safety underscored in China's new draft law
- Xi stresses winning tough, protracted battle against corruption
- China regulates terrorist cases handling procedures in accordance with law: white paper
- I live on the Isle of Wight
- Book of Xi's discourses on Chinese modernization published in English, bilingual versions
- Goalie error costs relegation battler Burnley a draw with Brighton in EPL
- Book on Xi's discourses on China's manufacturing strength published
- 200 days into Israel
- China's top political advisory body starts annual session
Popular articles
Recommended
Cachin receives souvenir from Nadal after losing to the 22
Exploring China's high
National political advisors discuss environment protection, building Beautiful China
China to take multiple measures to upgrade basic education: minister
Injured Marlins left
Haaland scores as Man City routs Luton 5
China's procuratorates, supervisory organs enhance linking mechanism to improve case handling
Will Biden be on the ballot in Ohio and Alabama? That's up to Republicans
Links
- China to take countermeasures if U.S. imposes visa restrictions on Hong Kong officials: spokesperson
- China's UN envoy hailed as he leaves office
- China urges Israel to implement UN resolution on Gaza ceasefire
- Xi extends condolences to Putin over deadly Moscow concert hall terror attack
- Xi meets Vietnam's National Assembly chairman
- Peng urges German chorus to use music as bridge
- Xi meets U.S. guests
- Foreign experts hail China's democracy path
- States follow Texas on immigration bill
- Xi, Biden agree to advance cooperation