business

Read my lips: Abenomics is losing its gloss

22 Comments
By Kaori Kaneko

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Conclusion: Not only Abenomics but Abe's lip service also failed.

14 ( +17 / -3 )

In the first year of Abenomics, the economic stimulus program of Prime Minister Sinzo Abe, when stocks were booming, exports rising and deflation in retreat, Shiseido Co introduced a sassy new lip gloss that reflected the new confidence.

It wasn't "confidence" it was hope! And once again a politician has crushed it. When will the Japanese people wake up?

5 ( +8 / -3 )

Read my lips:

Abe, not just Abenomics is a total failure.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Abenomics: kuchi-waza personified.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Speaking of lip service, while Abe was blowing hot air to the public and international investors over his three arrow reform policy, he was busy sucking up to the economic elite that run Japan Inc., by buying up their worthless stock, offering cheap capital, handing out corporate welfare and cutting their tax burden.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Speaking of lip service, while Abe was blowing hot air to the public and international investors over his three arrow reform policy, he was busy sucking up to the economic elite that run Japan Inc., by buying up their worthless stock, offering cheap capital, handing out corporate welfare and cutting their tax burden.

The more power you give government to regulate, the more such things are going to happen. The government is now big enough and has the influence to reward or punish businesses which support or fail to support them, and the result is a system of laws, loopholes, favors, and favors taken away, and the morphing of a country made up of many companies to a country in which a handful of companies control most interests.

You see, the cost of regulations is not paid by those who can pay off the regulators for exemptions, and in return they get contracts and can increase the size of their businesses. The smaller companies cannot buy off as many politicians or bureaucrats, and eventually we end up where we are now.

The fault is not the corporations, because their sole aim is to make money. The fault is of the government, it(s politicians, and bureaucrats who are no less ambitious or greedy than anyone else, but who rather than satisfy that greed by producing goods or services, using their substantial power over the providers of these things, they get the money without the risk or effort.

If you want to see an economy where everyone is better off, remove nearly all rules and regulations, and require all businesses to compete on the value and quality of their goods and services, rather than on their ability to made deals with the government for contracts and monopolies. The politicians will no longer have the power to grant or deny favors, companies will have to operate on a level playing field, prices will stabilize, and everyone will be a lot more honest.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

I am neither 100% for Abenomics nor 100% against it, I think parts of it were good moves and others were obvious blunders.

Details of the Abenomics aside, how can anyone expect Japan to have pulled off a unilateral economic recovery amidst the woes of every other major market in the world?

Do you people really think that if someone else pulled a someoneelse-nomics Japan would've unilaterally prospered in the highly intertwined global economy that is in general kind of bear-ish?

JT Abe hater's view of the world is so clouded due to their unrestrained hate for the guy. Its technically not any different from America's Trump lovers.

(everything trump/abe says and does is right/wrong cuz i love/hate him. Therefore, facts and reason take no place in my judgement of him and his policies.)

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

Darn, I was going to have my say but the vast majority of the above already took the words out of my lips.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Abenomics has always been "smoke and mirrors." Whatever happened to that 3rd arrow, structural changes? The vested interests shot it down, that's what. Japan badly needs an "outsider" leader, but not in the mold of Trump. The country's decline continues.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Read my lips: Abenomics is losing its gloss

Did it ever have any?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Abenomics has always been "smoke and mirrors.

Which actually turned out to be only sleeping pills to allow to push security and army's agenda, nothing else.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Old ladies just do not look good wearing bright red lipstick!

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Bright red shades have not been popular among younger girls/women (<40) for a number of years now. Linking the preference in this country for dull tones to Abenomics seems tenuous at best. The odd occasion where I do see a young woman with bright red lipstick, they are usually Korean (presuming I hear them speak).

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Why though? Why did anyone even think Mr. Abe was going to do anything useful? He was PM for a year in 2006-2007 and was worse than useless then too. Why the confidence when a failed right-wing PM with no talent gets the top job again through a farcical old boys network and carries on the same drivel from a decade earlier? His only policy has been currency manipulation and even that no longer works. The only other thing he does is give money to his own supporters so they'll vote for him again and carry on supporting him. Was this honestly a reason for great confidence to a company the size of Shiseido?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Mark my words - The failure of Abenomics & utter ineptness of the Abe government will signal the downfall of modern Japan. That's why I'm bailing out this year.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

JT Abe hater's view of the world is so clouded due to their unrestrained hate for the guy. Its technically not any different from America's Trump lovers.

out of the mouths of babes. if koizumi, arguable one of the most popular japanese politicians in modern times, had made the same proposals, everyone would be rooting for it. but since it's right-wing, facist, inept, crooked abe, people are rooting for its failure. people forget that koizumi could be considered more right-wing than abe on certain issues, like visiting yasukuni, which he did and which abe has not done. but you know, don't let anything like facts get in the way of your hate.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Yubaru: "When will the Japanese people wake up?"

Never. Easier to just sink with the ship.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

If you want to see an economy where everyone is better off, remove nearly all rules and regulations, and require all businesses to compete on the value and quality of their goods and services, rather than on their ability to made deals with the government for contracts and monopolies. The politicians will no longer have the power to grant or deny favors, companies will have to operate on a level playing field, prices will stabilize, and everyone will be a lot more honest.

Well,,sangetsu03, you are saying if we can just be like countries like the Philippines and Vietnam and Dominican Republic or Haitai, then the economy will REALLY improve. Yeah, what we need are more black companies. More black companies and fewer labor restrictions, THEN its MAGIC, everything improves. You right-wingers never stop with this meme, do you? Have you ever been to these countries, they ain't paradise.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Soon the ladies of Japan won't be able to afford any lip gloss.....

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Japan is doomed

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Scale back. Chill out with the rules and regs and cut taxes.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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