Japan PM hopeful Ishiba says complete exit from deflation crucial

I promise to achieve sustainable growth in real wages... 

When a politician says that, I'm always really interested to know how they plan to do that. But they never say. They don't issue pay cheques. Wages are overwhelmingly determined by private-sector employers, not the govt. At this point, the only way they're going to pay more is if they are forced to pay more.

The problems with Japan’s economy cannot be fixed with interest rates or empty slogans. They need to involve the demographic problems : too many elderly people dependent on too few workers. The easiest way out of this mess is through immigration, but I haven’t heard any politician propose this, probably due to the fears of “diluting the culture” of Japan.

"I promise to achieve sustainable growth in real wages to realize a full exit from deflation, so that people can spend without worrying about the future," he added.

Japanese workers and families number 1 worry, deflation...

The LDP could not be more out of touch if it tried.

The country is doomed jimin make him PM.

obladiToday  04:57 pm JST

The easiest way out of this mess is through immigration

No and definitely NO. Immigration is not a solution to anything unless the people coming are willing to assimilate to Japanese way. And we already know that it didn’t work in Europe or the US, so please stop the nonsense about immigration being a solution.

Was deflation as bad as they are saying it was? Sure it is terrible in terms of economic stagflation, but the people were able to live their lives modestly without the fear of sinking. Feels like this inflation isn't as good as it is marketed to be, seeing how out of control it is getting in the US. Increasing wages to keep up with inflation, sure, but where do the two ends meet?

Currently we are experiencing rising consumer prices across the board with more than half the population likely not receiving any sort of raise due to their employment circumstances (temp, part time, contract, etc.). And so we are expected to see more spending in an inflated economy right? Sure, but exactly who is spending more?

We also need to stop using average numbers in Tokyo and expect those numbers to reflect Japan as a whole. Just an hour away and it is already completely different scenario for the average household income/ expenditure. Tokyo can literally be a country on it's own and so using the data in conjunction with somewhere like it's neighboring counterparts is absurd. They need to separate these numbers and then assess whether Japan is capable of handling inflation.

Another old man passed his retirement date and is living in the past. I don't understand this fascination with older politicians in Japan and the USA, is it because they are rich?

My local member of parliament is a 28-year-old woman, yes our prime minister is 63 but his team Angela Rayner 44 and Rachel Reeves 45 both have worked outside of politics.

Quick solution is not the best solution. He can only hope his policies will bear fruit after his term.

@WeiWei,

I didn’t say immigration is the only way. Increased birth rates within the current population would work in principle. But so far, these efforts have not succeeded, and the birth rate is declining ever more steeply.

I also understand the aversion to immigration. It brings problems. But, it’s the backbone of a strong economy. Immigrants, on average, pour more into the country than they take out (e.g., https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/the-fiscal-impact-of-immigration-in-the-uk/). This is true in Europe and the UK, as well as in the U.S.

The problems with Japan’s economy cannot be fixed with interest rates or empty slogans. They need to involve the demographic problems : too many elderly people dependent on too few workers. The easiest way out of this mess is through immigration, but I haven’t heard any politician propose this, probably due to the fears of “diluting the culture” of Japan.

> Honestly it got nothing to do with immigration, we have seen how well it has worked for some places in Europe,

I have nothing against immigration l, as I myself emigrated to the U.S, but there should be some kind of betting, some people just want to create chaos, I have nothing against anyone, but you have the bad apples, that create problems, and one way of gathering information is by betting people trying to emigrated to Japan.

Complete waste of breath of a dinosaur.

Takaichi for PM!

I think I have heard this all before somewhere:

"Steering the economy at the macro level, we will successfully extricate ourselves from deflation, our biggest goal ... We will faithfully rebuild the economy. We will also work to put public finances on a sound footing.

Having said that, what I aim to do is to bring a new form of capitalism into realization.

Some have pointed out that neoliberal policies have had the harmful effect of creating a deep rift between the “haves” and the “have nots.” There are now moves underway in the world to search out a capitalist economy for the new era in which corporations and governments make bold investments, protecting the middle class, which forms the core of a healthy democracy, and preparing for global-scale crises such as climate change.

Now is the time for Japan too to kick off a new form of capitalism and make it a reality."

Policy Speech by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the 205th Session of the Diet - October 8, 2021.

"I promise to achieve sustainable growth in real wages to realise a full exit from deflation, so that people can spend without worrying about the future," he added.

Huh? Deflation here well and truly ended around 4 years ago. The guy has a screw or two loose or stilll lives in the pre-pandemic days.

I don't think private consumption has recovered strongly yet despite some signs of improvement

We don't all earn 25 million yen a year like you do, Shigeru-kun. I saw some pointless construction work outside my house this evening. The road always looked fine to me -- no potholes. The LDP could try cutting back on wasteful spending instead of taxing us all to death.

Yeah, this guy is bad. I have never - never - read here about a politician being good or fair or a little better. This is the 106,389th bad politician on this site and all of its threads and that shows that the only problem Japan really has is bad politicians. Maybe they should let immigration of politicians solve the problem. The problem with that is where the politician will come from.

There is not a single photo in the world of Mr Ishiba smiling, not one.

it’s not like there is some button in tokyo that increases wages when pushed.

it’s a systemic business culture problem. wages will increase if companies hire more than just “freshmen.” the resistance to hiring experienced mid-career people holds japan back.

and there are so many women undervalued.

Yen is a funny money now.

Sony just priced PlayStation 5 Pro at 120,000 Yen.($700 in the US)

You can thank Abenomics for this crazy inflations.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Media-Entertainment/PlayStation-5-Pro-with-AI-based-upscaler-to-be-launched-Nov.-7

PlayStation 5 Pro with AI-based upscaler to be launched Nov. 7

Sony's latest game console to go for $699.99 in U.S., 799.99 euros, 119,980 yen

" would you buy a used car from this man? "

(only those of a certain age will get this I suppose, but it immediately sprang to mind when I saw the photo)

These are campaign promises, so don't worry too much about them actually happening.

Deflation wasn't the national demon successive JP PMs stated it to be. It kept prices down so people could afford to buy food, despite having tiny wage increases.

Inflation increases prices and costs but wages never keep up, so poverty increases.

Get an inflationary spiral (as in the UK after Brexit) and it will take down your economy and government.

Inflation (with the artificially hiked interest rates that come with it) just makes the piles of money of rich people grow without them doing any work, which is why they like it. Everyone else suffers.

You don't need inflation to have a healthy economy. People who do stuff, creating value, still make money, even with deflation.

State welfare is essential for the poorest, but when you increase borrowing (stealing money from the kids) to hand out cash to the middle classes and corporates, you are on a slippery slope. It works like a drug. Get addicted to it and you won't stop.

Japan and Brexit Britain both have anti-growth policies (including limits on migrant labour) for ideological reasons. If you do that, your future is inevitably one of managed decline, whatever politicians promise.

The ruling LDP government regardless of who is the next Prime Minster will face the same uphill struggle challenges.

However that hill will be considerably steeper as time passes, depopulation more pronounced, childcare evermore acute, care costs for the elderly a severe drain for the taxpayer.

Every candidate shuffling into position seems to be singing off the same 'hymn sheet'.

The pledges promises a familiar echo of prime ministerial elections from times of future past.