LDP-Komei government is indifferent to people's plight -- Akahata editorial, July 3

In election campaign speeches and TV debates, ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei party officials tout the "Koizumi reform" policy as contributing to the recovery of the nation's economy.

Takenaka Heizo, state minister in charge of economic, fiscal, and financial policy, boastfully states, "The Japanese economy is recovering." Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro repeatedly says, "Reform is beginning to produce results." Komei Party President Kanzaki Takenori says, "The results of the structural reform are manifest in all aspects."

Household economy is rapidly impoverished

If the state of the entire economy is on a recovery track, there should be no need for them to use public relations to let the public know about it.

In a survey conducted in March by the daily Yomiuri more than 80 percent of the respondents said that they can't "feel" a recovery. In an April survey by the daily Nikkei Shimbun, nearly 70 percent said that they do not believe the economy will be improving in the near future or can even worsen.

Most people do not feel that the economy is recovering. Many of the respondents in polls are saying that hardships are increasing due to falls in personal incomes.

Ruling party leaders cite a fall in the unemployment rate and an increase in personal spending as reasons for the "successful Koizumi reform" that has helped to improve living standards.

The reality is that the unemployment rate, which rose more rapidly than ever due to the bad loan disposal scheme under the Koizumi Cabinet and worker dismissals by large corporations, has temporarily returned to the previous level. What is more, many full-time positions have been replaced by part-time or other unstable and low-paying jobs. In the job market, several million workers have been forced to endure worsening working conditions.

Statistics on gross domestic product (GDP) show that employee compensation decreased in FY 2003 by 13.5 trillion yen from FY 2000, the year before the Koizumi Cabinet came to office.

The continual declines in income have forced workers to draw on their savings to meet their household budgets. A Bank of Japan survey showed that the average household economy last year turned into deficit for the first time. The balance of total house budgets, which was 18 trillion yen in the black in 2000, fell to 2.2 trillion yen in the red in 2003. The Koizumi Cabinet's economic policy has thus impoverished Japan's household economy rapidly.

Ruling party officials' public relations about "economic recovery" are aimed at keeping the fact of the overall worsening of living conditions from the public.

The prime minister and the Komei Party president emphasize that such economic recovery must be felt also by local economies, small- and medium-sized businesses, and the household economy. This amounts to admitting that economic recovery has not taken place in these areas.

Help improve living conditions first

The Koizumi government's "Basic Economic Policy" argues that an increase in profits for major corporations will create more jobs, increase incomes, and improve household budgets. But this is proven to be untrue by a report.

This year's "White Book on International Trade" by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry points out that the argument that "an increase in corporate profits will trickle down to wage earners" has no longer been tenable since 2002. It says that wage earners' incomes have been falling despite a business recovery. Major corporations are to blame for pushing corporate restructuring by reducing employment and wages and urging their subcontractors to cut unit prices, thus ensuring further profits. This means that any economic policy in support of major corporations will never be effective for improving household budgets.

Now that LDP policies are shown to be ineffective in boosting the household economy, economic policies must immediately changed to one of directly helping improve living conditions and increasing jobs while urging major corporations to provide employment jobs and support local economies. (end)