Word: japanned
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...global recession has again exposed the structural weaknesses that plague Japan: overdependence on exports to drive economic growth, anemic domestic demand, inefficient enterprises and barriers to competition. It's no secret that the root of all of these problems is demographics. An aging population is shrinking Japan's labor force and consumer market. The country's working-age population (aged 15 and over) has declined 2% since 1999. Over the same period, the number of workers aged 65 and up expanded 19%, while the labor force of workers aged 25 to 34 shrank 9%. (Read "Japan: Stimulating the World Markets...
...malaise, Japan needs to find the right mix of policies that enable younger workers and small businesses to become more productive, and that ensure consumers can consume. Those policies are not in place today. The country is a de facto gerontocracy that has failed to adapt to today's economic and demographic realities. Japan must redefine its goals and, at a deeper level, rewrite its social contract so that youth are better served...
...fine when earnings were plentiful during the postwar boom. But today the policies sap the strength of small- and medium-sized businesses, a major source of new jobs. At the same time, younger Japanese are crowded out of the workforce by graying incumbents in cradle-to-grave employment. (Read "Japan, After The Bubble...
...Policymakers have failed to match increased job insecurity with a corresponding expansion of social welfare. It's true that Japan's public debt is approaching 200% of GDP - the highest among developed countries - which limits the government's options. Still, the state must deepen the social safety net to better cover the underserved: young workers and families. This will help reverse the population decline, rebalance growth toward domestic demand and remove the need to mitigate unemployment by propping up inefficient companies and farms. Japanese citizens will have to make sacrifices - they may have to pay more taxes, for example...
...lost decade is stretching on and on partly because of the government's tardy policy responses and half-hearted measures. Why delay? After all, Japan is not getting any younger...