Current location:sport >>
VOX POPULI: Leadership skills of the past are missing in the politics of today
sport8People have gathered around
IntroductionU.S. economist Joseph Dodge (1890-1964) arrived in occupied Japan in 1949 as the financial adviser t ...
U.S. economist Joseph Dodge (1890-1964) arrived in occupied Japan in 1949 as the financial adviser to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.
Tasked with implementing postwar economic stabilization programs, which came to be known as the Dodge Line, he stated during a news conference on March 7 of 75 years ago that Japan’s economy had been standing on stilts.
Noting that the pair of stilts consisted of U.S. aid and Japanese government subsidies, Dodge called for a super-balanced budget policy.
In the immediate postwar era, Japan was supported by massive amounts of U.S. aid that far exceeded its own annual budget.
And Japanese government subsidies were used to pay the difference generated by export import controls.
Dodge insisted that the only way to curb Japan’s hyperinflation was to lop off those “stilts.”
This seriously alarmed the then-Democratic Liberal Party (Minshu Jiyu-to) Cabinet of Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida (1878-1967), who had just won the general election of January 1949 by a landslide after pledging massive tax cuts.
Implementing an austerity policy would constitute an outright breach of the party’s election pledge.
His finance minister, Hayato Ikeda (1899-1965), was in a bind.
He held repeated negotiations with Dodge, hoping, at least, to carry out partial tax cuts.
But the budget outlook could not have been more different from what the party had pledged, and intraparty dissatisfaction erupted.
At one point, Ikeda was said to have been prepared to step down.
Ultimately, Yoshida basically “shut everyone up and got the budget approved,” recalled former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa (1919-2007) in his memoir.
Miyazawa was Ikeda’s policy aide at the time.
The drastic budget-balancing “remedy” served to bring the nation’s hyperinflation under control, but it also caused severe side effects.
A great number of small and midsize enterprises went belly-up, and many workers were let go around the nation in what came to be called the “Dodge recession.”
In July 1950, the stock average plummeted to 85.25, the lowest level ever.
And on March 4 this year, the Nikkei stock average topped 40,000 for the first time.
The nation’s “stilts” economy is a thing of a long-past era, but I feel uneasy.
Perhaps that’s because I don’t see any politician today agonizing over the weight of their election pledge or asserting leadership to forge party unity.
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 5
* *
*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“International Iterations news portal”。http://www.videocameralive.com/html-9e399989.html
Related articles
At least 40 people die in Kenya after dam collapses
sportNAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A dam collapsed in western Kenya early Monday, killing at least 45 people and ...
【sport】
Read moreBeijing base to bring in 50 giant pandas in 2025
sportBEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing base of the China Conservation and Research Center for Gian ...
【sport】
Read moreAustralian woman appears in court charged with poisoning husband and his relatives with mushrooms
sportMELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A woman accused of serving her ex-husband’s parents and an aunt poisonou ...
【sport】
Read more
Popular articles
- Chinese FM holds talks with Bolivian counterpart
- Local election workers fear threats to their safety as November nears
- REVEALED: Former Tory minister who leapt to Angela Rayner's defence... is working for Labour
- China's new high
- Nvidia to buy Israeli AI company for estimated $700M
- Dakota Joshua scores 2 goals to help lift Canucks past Predators 4
Latest articles
50 migrants reported missing and 9 rescued after their boat overturns off Spanish Atlantic island
The Latest
North Korea has fired multiple missiles into the ocean, South Korea says
Stock market today: Asian shares shrug off Wall St blues as China leaves lending rate unchanged
'Flying Apsaras' takes flight in Beijing, set for nationwide tour
North Korea has fired multiple missiles into the ocean, South Korea says
LINKS
- Over 600 enterprises sign up for 7th CIIE
- China sees 56 new unicorn enterprises in 2023: report
- Xi Focus: Xi Urges Troops to Forge 'Great Wall of Steel' in Guarding Chinese Borders
- Xi Focus: Xi Urges Troops to Forge 'Great Wall of Steel' in Guarding Chinese Borders
- Chinese, Palestinian Presidents Hold Talks
- Xi Stresses Cultural Advancement in Letter to Forum
- Xi Sends Congratulatory Letter to First Forum on Building up China's Cultural Strength
- U.S. urged to stop sending wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces
- Xi Focus: Xi Orders All
- Xi Stresses Cultural Advancement in Letter to Forum