Some wonder if Japan's new leaders have economic vision

Of course the corporates are unhappy about notions of doing away with temp workers. These workers are disposable to companies and are the first to lose everything when profit taking and stock protection outweigh the needs of workers. Which is usually the case.

We workers do all the hard work as well as most of the consumer spending that make these companies viable in the first place. In return they have given less and less back. It is time for this to change.

In Japan a temp worker in her mid 30's can lose a job and have an almost impossible time finding a new one due to age and sex discrimination that is inherent in the labor system here. This is not right. What are these workers expected to do?

Japan needs change. Temp workers should be the exception and not the rule. And corporates and their shareholders must revise their expectations for earnings to give more back to society as a whole. Workers have rights and we must develop and protect those rights to the benefit of a broader segment of society. The corporates know this is necessary, but they fear it because it will cut into their ability to post year on year massive percentile profit increases.

Thinking must be changed to care equally about labor as companies care about shareholders. Balance is an absolute necessity. Painful as the change will be, it is the moral and right thing to do for the vast majority of people alive in this country today.

I wonder wonder wonder !!!! I got a great idea make things cheaper and more affordable

I'm still wondering if they have common sense

nothing that was not said in the run up - but they wanted change and it was the only viable option, though I doubt how much of a change it really is

Isn't he a Stanford Doctoral Grad? Give the guy a chance.

Nothing will change. This we all know, and I am amazed that some are even wondering if change will come... I hate to break it to you but I have not seen anything to make me believe that the word 'change' is even fully understood. Just my humble opinion. Expect nothing to change and you won't be disappointed.

Just take the word "Economic" out of the headline and the headline would be true for most things in Japan.

no they don't, but also, as compared to who ? the imbecilic LDP ? compared to them, the DPJ are a bunch of rocket scientists

Hatoyama's missus has visions which apparently, he finds energising and original

tkoind2, it is not only the 'right thing' to change the system, it is necessary. Measures to prop up the system will only have temporary successes, until we have another depression.

First, however, Hatoyama & Co must decide what the goal of the economy should be. Is it a sustainable way of living? Is it a high living standard for the populace? Is it to take advantage of all the latest innovations of technology? The market capitalism is incapable of providing any of these. I won't bother explaining why, because we are all faced by the fact.

If we decide on a number of goals. we can from these design a system that will work using the common method of engineering. It is not difficult, and it does not take a long time. It does however take some radical thinking...

If we look at the subject of money, we see that wether it is fiat currency or gold, it all has one common feature: it is scarce. This is a necessity, as money in itself has no value. Only the fact that it is scarce makes it useful in trades.

This leaves us with a problem however: as money is scarce we can never have enough to provide a decent standard of living to every citizen. We can never have enough to even buy all the production of our factories, and if we can't do this the result is ever increasing unemployment. If we tried to make enough money by printing more, it would lose its value. This is called hyperinflation.

So the radical thought required is this: the system we device cannot use money.

There are a few suggestions for a money-less method of distribution (of both goods and labor), but I feel that the most relevant one is Technocracy. I am currently working to design a technocratic plan that would work for Japan and other resource-deficit nations, but in the meantime if you are interested you can read more about it here: http://www.technocracy.ca/simp/begin.html

tokyokawasaki: No, nothing will change. This is because the current situation is a result of our economic system.

"Aizawa and other free-market advocates worried that the party may step away from deregulating the economy"

hmm? A free mark advocate is worried about deregulation? Usually free market people are all about deregulation

also "If we look at the subject of money, we see that wether it is fiat currency or gold, it all has one common feature: it is scarce."

how is fiat currency scarce? The central banks are constantly printing out money. Its not scarce for the central banks ufortunately

jbro888: Fiat money is not naturally scarce, but it is kept artificially scarce. The central banks CAN make it abundant, yes, but if they do, the result is hyperinflation. The money will lose its value.

So to summarize: Gold is naturally scarce Fiat is artificially scarce

Just wait until Joe Sato on the street realizes that the biggist shift in political power in fifty years won't do a frikkin thing for his bottom line. That's when the fit will really hit the shan. You think people have a lack of faith in government now.

great time to worry.... after the guy is elected. hmmm, apparently the people lack the vision to elect a leader in the first place.

“In short, what they are going to do is unclear,” said Koetsu Aizawa, economics professor at Saitama University. “They were out to win an election. And they have barely addressed the issues of structural reforms and economic growth.”

a higher minimum wage. is the new plan!! It addresses all issues simultaneously.

Giving away money is not the answer here, it should be means tested if done at all. With higher wages people will spend their own hard earned money, createing a welfare class in Japan, alla America, where poor people spawn extra kids just to get more welfare payments and benefits. Those kids are never properly cared for, and grow up to become an even bigger burden on society. Its dangerous and irresponsible policy.

Oops, I meant...

With higher wages people will spend their own hard earned money. Creating a welfare class in Japan is not the answer, alla America, where poor people spawn extra kids just to get more welfare payments and benefits.

Yet more speculation, how about some actual NEWS!!!!

bgaundry:

<------suicide and the depressing real Japan is that way.....