Japan Press Weekly

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2015 September 16 - 29 TOP3 [ECONOMY]

Abe’s empty promises about ‘new three arrows’ cannot fool public

Akahata editorial (excerpt)

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, who was re-elected as the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, recently announced the three main targets of his economic policy for the next three years under, saying that Japan will become a society in which all can participate actively. The three targets, which Abe calls the “new three arrows”, are: to establish a strong economy that leads to hope; to provide child-rearing support services that allow dreams to be fulfilled; and to improve social security systems that reduce people’s anxieties. He also says that he will work to increase the value of Japan’s Gross Domestic Product to six trillion yen. The prime minister, however, offered no concrete measures or evidence on how such goals can be met. They are nothing but empty promises. Abe’s hollow promises will not deceive the general public who are increasingly critical of the Abe government’s anti-people policies, such as the forcible enactment of the war legislation and the planned increase in the consumption tax rate.

Abe says that as his economic policy package dubbed “Abenomics” entered the second stage, he decided to release the new three arrows. He, however, provided no explanation about how the new “three arrows” are linked with the former “three arrows” of Abenomics—the drastic easy-money policy, flexible fiscal spending, and the economic growth strategy centering on deregulation measures. The third arrow of the former policy was totally excluded from the new ones and basically ignored though the prime minister used to say it was the most important arrow among the three.

PM Abe boasts that Abenomics was successful, but the general public and the economy overall in Japan suffered heavy blows, including soaring prices due to the weakening of the yen, the consumption tax rate increase combined with the lowering of corporate tax rates, and deregulation in the fields of employment and agriculture. While many large corporations are bringing in record-high profits, personal consumption remains weak as workers are struggling with stagnating wages and severe employment situations. It is clear that Abenomics failed to put the Japanese economy back on a healthy growth track. Painting the failed economic policies in glowing colors will not bring about a bright future to Japan.

As the second of the new three arrows, the prime minister promises to increase the birthrate to 1.8 and decrease the number of workers who have to give up their careers due to the need to care for their aged parents. It is totally unacceptable for PM Abe to try to deceive the public with a load of empty promises.