The results of a small town mayoral election on distant Okinawa island risks undermining plans to build a U.S. base and may further inflame tensions in the already strained U.S.-Japan military alliance. Challenger Susumu Inamine, who opposes constructing the U.S. base, beat pro-base Yoshikazu Shimabukuro in the January 24th contest, which had largely became a referendum on the U.S. military facility. Inamine’s victory will stiffen Okinawan and Japanese resistance to the construction plan. Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will use the Okinawan election as further justification for refusing to abide …
Japan’s newly minted finance minister, Naoto Kan, seems an excellent choice to lead Japan on an expedited road to fiscal perdition. For those who argue the best way to deal with the coming financial crisis is to precipitate it quickly, Mr. Kan’s choice should be particularly welcome. The governments of the industrialized world are almost uniformly embarking on a crash course in sovereign debt calamity. In raw dollar terms, the United States is leading with a budget deficit in 2009 of $1.4 trillion and even more expected for 2010 and …
On President Obama’s trip across Asia, the major news has not been America’s policy posture, but rather our president’s personal posture. On Saturday, photo and video emerged of President Obama bowing at a 45 degree angle, head down, hand outstretched to Japan’s Emperor Akihito. Even within Japanese culture, this bow was certainly excessive. And the flood of pictures now surfacing of other world leaders greeting the Emperor without so much as a head nod prove that this bow was more than a simple diplomatic gesture. The bow certainly plays into …
The most surprising aspect of the dust-up between the U.S. and Japan is that anyone is surprised. It was obvious that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) security policies ran counter not only to long-standing U.S. priorities but also to American strategic interests. Yet, the common post-election view among analysts and in the press was complacency. Most held that there was little likelihood for strains in the military relationship and that any potential for tension would be further reduced if Washington only accommodated its policies to those of the new …
On page A27 of today’s New York Times, Paul Krugman is at it again. Spending trillions of dollars we don’t actually have is what saved us from disaster, but we need to spend more! More! More! Krugman has written the same thing so many times, he apparently doesn’t need to bother with facts, just assertions. In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Robert Barro and Charles Redlick did bother with facts, which happens to lead them to the exact opposite conclusion. But that isn’t the ugly part. The ugly part is that, …
On the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, everyone is talking about human rights in China. The question is, why isn’t there more talk at other times? The answer is the same for human rights as it is for many other issues involving China: because we overemphasize economic matters unnecessarily. The PRC’s economic rise is of course important, even breath-taking. But we have gotten ahead of ourselves. It is the American economy which drives the world, with Beijing crafting a development model in light of that dominance. And, as …
One of today’s great Chicago architects likes to critique buildings by asking: “If this is the answer, what was the question?” It cuts to the chase. Imagine standing before this…thing and applying the above critique. The question becomes: “Can you build me a poorly lit maximum-security prison tower to live in? Absurd, right? Just like the result. Similarly, to properly understand the absurdity of the U.S. Government backing car warranties, we must ask ourselves what the objective is regarding the auto industry. Improved sales? Economic viability? Something along these lines, surely, …
When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Japan this week, one of the main topics of conversation will be developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Japan has played an important role in contributing to efforts to stabilize and secure South Asia over the last seven years. Washington should welcome a more robust Japanese role in the region and strongly support Tokyo’s plan to hold an international donor’s meeting on Pakistan (possibly in March) to help raise funds for the cash-strapped economy. Japan has already played a helpful role in Afghanistan, despite …
The New York Times reports today: Japan’s rural areas have been paved over and filled in with roads, dams and other big infrastructure projects, the legacy of trillions of dollars spent to lift the economy from a severe downturn caused by the bursting of a real estate bubble in the late 1980s. During those nearly two decades, Japan accumulated the largest public debt in the developed world — totaling 180 percent of its $5.5 trillion economy — while failing to generate a convincing recovery. This should not be news to …
The crisis in Russia is revealing new features proving it is quite unlike the global downturn. Last week saw numerous actions protesting a hike in import duties on foreign cars that were staged in an array of Russian provinces. The government had passed a decision to the effect to protect domestic carmakers. This dealt a massive blow to many provinces. The truth is that auto making is localized in Russia’s European area, and shipping cars to Siberia and the Far East racks up their sales price, especially at the backdrop …
