JAPAN'S ECONOMIC SLUMP
The economic slump in Japan has become of increasing concern. to .the bourgeois specialists. A culling of current expressions of © opinion in the press will indicate their worry.
The Sankei Shimbun holds the following view: "The nation's economy is now facing serious difficulties and various economic organizations have either petitioned or made recommendations to the Government regarding measures to overcome the slump. However, such petitions and recommendations have different contents and lack con= crete and effective measures, In this connection, the recommenda= tion made by the Over-all Policy Research Council Friday [July 23] should be watched with keen attention, As emergency measures, the council advocated strong measures by the Bank of Japan to rehabili-
tate the stock market, special tax measures for scrapping of super= fluous production facilities, lowering of the official money rate and tax reductions totaling more than 1,500,000,000,000 yen [one yen «= $.002778] over a period of five years,"
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun has this to say: “It seems that the Government, though belatedly, is working out and implementing a fullfledged policy to counter the present business depression, And the July 27 session of the Economic Policy Council is a matter of concern to the general public. Our hope is that the Government will hammer out a drastic and aggressive measure to cope with the present business condition instead of makeshift measures, A series of measures was put into practice to combat the depression. However, they were not enforced in time for the purpose. And furthermore, the Government sometimes resorted to measures which may aggravate the depression, As a result, no sign of recovery has come into sight, Under the circumstances, therefore, it will be essential for the Government to put drastic measures into force in order to bring about a business pickup."
An example of the more extensive analyses being offered, is provided by an article written by Kazuo Kuroda which appeared in The Japan Times of July 17. Here are some extracts:
"The Japanese Government appears quite confident in saying that the depression is bottoming out, but it is a bit dismaying that the financial measures to relieve the economy are producing no appreciable effect so far,
"Late in June, or just before the July 4 elections, the Government announced a series of measures to increase the purchasing power through advanced outlays for public works and other spendings,.
"Following the elections, the Government has now come up with a scheme to reduce steel production by a 'cartel! agreement among the big six steel mills. This includes maintenance of proper export prices in order to preclude ‘dumping! abroad,
"The same formula is expected to be extended to other branches of industrial activities. There will be powerful pincers, therefore, working from both sides, namely that of production and that of purchasing power,
"Never before since the end of World War II has Japan's economy posed as serious a test as this to the nation's political leaders, The trial appears to be extended and the countermeasures are assuming larger proportions than before.... ,
"The present shape of economy seems to offer a field day for commentators and economists. The welter of confusion may be seen by picking up the August issue of the magazine Chuo Koron. And there are many other magazines for businessmen, The situation requires
that the readers be discriminating.
"There are easy optimists who argue as if the 'depression! was merely psychological. Those who once actively supported Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda's policy for rapid economic growth argue as if the depression was induced merely by a psychological mistake,
"But there are also extreme pessimists who give the impres-~ sion as if Japan's economy were falling apart. They tend to receive support from those businessmen eager to get more relief from the Government. ;
"The Government is certainly giving relief; relief-of the Yamaichi Securities Co, is only one instance. The.Government. must see to it that there will be no panic. But it must also see that there will be gradual readjustment, Otherwise, the nation would never pull up economically,
"This process. of readjustment, it seems clear, involves long and steady effort within Japanese enterprises. .As in the case. of the steel industry, the Government is trying to reduce production, Curtailment of operation, however, means an ordeal to the management, because the labor unions: do not allow laying-off. of workers,
"Nobody wants to get hurt. Management wants to avoid bankruptey or even a merger with other firms. The workers do not want to be laid off.
"In other words, the patient does not want to undergo a surgical operation, nor take bitter pills, but wants to get well. If the Government may be likened to a physician, his role is a rather delicate one. Time may be required for recoveryesces
"The. situation appears pretty. dismal. ‘The Government is thinking big but acting highly cautiously. Although the Government is encouraging the formation of steel and other cartels, it is wary against the suggestion made in favor of revision of the antimonopoly law.
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