BBC (December 26, 2013)
“Whatever Shinzo Abe says, any visit to the Yasakuni shrine by a Japanese prime minister is deeply political and sure to cause offence.”
Tags: Japan, Offence, Political, Prime minister, Shinzo Abe, Yasakuni
Wall Street Journal (December 9, 2013)
Former Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and the protesters he leads have shown a remarkable “capacity for self-delusion. They dismiss anyone who supports the government as either ignorant or in the pay of Ms. Yingluck and her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra…. The country will continue to pay the price as Mr. Suthep defies the will of the majority. It’s hard to escape the suspicion that a revolution is coming in Thai politics, but it won’t be one to the opposition’s liking.”
Tags: Government, Opposition, Politics, Prime minister, Protesters, Revolution, Self-delusion, Suthep Thaugsuban, Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra
The Economist (October 5)
“The prime minister is right to raise the consumption tax, but must do more to boost Japan’s growth.” It is time for the third arrow. These major reforms should “include radical proposals to consolidate farmland, increase competition in the provision of health care and ease the rules on hiring and firing.”
Tags: Competition, Consumption tax, Farmland, Firing, Health care, Hiring, Japan, Prime minister, Reforms, Rules, Third arrow
Washington Post (July 21)
Prime Minister Abe’s strong mandate is promising for Asia, and could help reduce tension. ”A healthy U.S.-Japan alliance is the region’s best hope for stability. That alliance, in turn, depends on a prospering Japanese economy and on at least cordial relations between Japan and other U.S. friends in Asia, most notably South Korea. Thanks to Japanese fatigue with the instability of the past decade, and to Mr. Abe’s political skills, he now has the best chance in a long time to deliver on those goals.”
Tags: Abe, Alliance, Asia, Economy, Japan, Mandate, Prime minister, South Korea, Stability, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (July 21)
“Since taking office in December, Mr. Abe has shown a nearly unprecedented level of resolve on all three fronts [fiscal, monetary, regulatory] compared to recent prime ministers.” In his quest to reignite Japan’s economy, “Mr. Abe still faces a long and difficult road to get from where Japan is now to where he wants it to be. He may yet fail, or only partially succeed, in some of his priorities. But outside observers should not discount the extent to which Mr. Abe is giving voters something tangible to support. Voters certainly didn’t discount that on Sunday when they gave their support to Mr. Abe’s party.”
Tags: Fiscal policy, Japan’s economy, Monetary policy, Prime minister, Regulatory policy, Resolve, Shinzo Abe, Support, Voters
Wall Street Journal (April 27, 2013)
“Who started World War II? We thought that one belonged to the Department of Settled Questions, along with any lingering doubts about whether the Earth orbits the sun. But Japan’s Shinzo Abe has a fresh, er, interpretation.” The Prime Minister’s latest revisionism threatens to further enflame tensions, already running high, in Asia. “Much of the world long ago forgave Japan its wartime atrocities. But it hasn’t forgotten them…. Mr. Abe’s disgraceful remark will make his country no more friends abroad.”
Tags: Atrocities, Disgrace, Japan, Prime minister, Shinzo Abe, WWII
The Economist (April 8, 2013)
“As prime minister from 1979 to 1990, Margaret Thatcher transformed Britain and left an ideological legacy to rival that of Marx, Mao, Gandhi or Reagan.” Lady Thatcher was the UK’s first and, to date, only female prime Minister. She also “remains the only occupant of Number 10 to have become an “-ism” in her lifetime.”
Financial Times (February 17)
“Forty governments are signatories to the anti-bribery convention adopted in 1997 by the Paris-based OECD…. So it was reprehensible for Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s former prime minister, to state last week that bribery in pursuit of international contracts was not an offence. It would be unfair on Italian companies to play by rules scorned by competitors, he declared.” Italy is a signatory to the OECD convention.
Tags: Anti-bribery, Competitors, Contracts, Italy, OECD, Prime minister, Signatories, Silvio Berlusconi
Financial Times (December 9)
“The political comeback of Shinzo Abe is one of the stranger twists in the recent, convoluted history of Japanese politics…. No one should be under any illusion about Mr Abe. He was a lousy prime minister first time around.” If he now looks like the best candidate this can only be due to “China’s misguided foreign policy, and the sorry state of a Japanese political system unable to produce someone better.”
Tags: Abe, China, Foreign policy, Japan, Politics, Prime minister
Wall Street Journal (November 25)
At a time when Japan really needs a leader, none of the candidates for Prime Minister measure up. “As giant problems in need of urgent solutions go, Japan is a thing of beauty. Its economy contracted by 3.5% on an annual basis from July to September, and slack exports and declining industrial production suggest another recession is coming. Demographic decline is well underway and Tokyo’s fiscal position—with debt roughly twice annual output—appears ever more precarious. So it’s a shame, as the Japanese head to the polls next month, that no candidate is offering even plausible solutions.”
Tags: Demographics, Economy, Election, Exports, Japan, Prime minister, Recession
