Word: aso
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...second largest, is contracting at the fastest rate among all developed nations. GDP growth in the last quarter shrank at an alarming annualized rate of 12.7%, Japan's worst showing since the 1974 oil shock. But instead of taking vigorous steps to counteract a worsening recession, Prime Minister Taro Aso is lurching from one embarrassing gaffe to the next, and seems in imminent danger of losing control of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) - and control of the government...
...Indeed, the only thing falling faster than Japanese industrial output is Aso's popularity, which according to a recent Nippon Television survey has sunk to a 9.7% approval rate, the worst for a Japanese Prime Minister since 2001. Even fellow LDP stalwart Junichiro Koizumi, the influential former Prime Minister, has publicly criticized Aso's blunders, calling them "appalling" and "laughable." Nakagawa's Yeltsin-like meltdown "is one more nail in Aso's coffin," says Robert Dujarric, director at Temple University's Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies. "It shows that he's incompetent and so is his administration...
...Aso did what he could to quickly mop up the mess by naming current Minister of the Economy Kaoru Yosano, 70, as Nakagawa's replacement. A fiscal conservative, Yosano will now wear three hats in Aso's government: running the ministries of economy and finance and the Financial Services Agency, which oversees banking. If things get much worse for the Prime Minister and he is forced to resign, there is even talk that Yosano, who was runner-up to Aso in the LDP elections in September, could replace him as the new head of the party and lead...
...last time that Yosano and Ozawa played a match, Ozawa won. With the LDP reeling, it appears Ozawa now holds the political advantage as well - and this will affect whether the government is able to take more decisive action to combat the economic downturn. While Aso's Cabinet in December approved $811.9 billion in stimulus spending, little of that money has been put into action. Other measures are seen as piecemeal and ineffective, leading to the perception that Aso has failed to deliver the fiscal and monetary steroids Japan needs to avert a deep recession...
...Aso has already named Minister of the Economy Kaoru Yosano, 70, as Nakagawa's replacement. Yosano, who claims he taught DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa to play the chess-like game of Go, will now wear three hats in Aso's government, running the ministries of economy and finance and the Financial Services Agency, which oversees banking. A fiscal conservative, Yosano was runner-up to Aso in the LDP elections last September. If things get much worse for the Prime Minister, there is even talk that Yosano could become the new head of the party and lead it into upcoming general...