Word: pensions
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...diplomatic relations with Asia through "heart-to-heart" dialogue. And guess what? That's what Fukuda, a former Chief Cabinet Secretary, peddles himself as today: a consensus-driven political insider who opposes Yasukuni visits because they alienate Japan's neighbors. The country's enormous public debt? A scandal-ridden pension system? A bloated bureaucracy? Neither Fukuda nor Aso has dedicated much campaign time to such issues...
...sanctions by the E.U. following three and a half years of relatively austere fiscal policy that brought the country's bloated budget deficit in line with financial rules that underpin the stability of the euro. Selling off struggling state-owned companies and overhauling the country's debt-ridden pension system will figure high on government's second-term agenda. Greece's rapidly aging population and system of generous pension benefits are "the main risk factors to Greece's long-term fiscal sustainability," according to a recent report by the ING. As the European Union's fastest-aging nation, Greece could...
...Japan's leader. In his tumultuous yearlong tenure, Abe weathered a stunning parliamentary defeat for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) coalition, the resignations of four of his Cabinet members, the suicide of his corruption-tainted Agriculture Minister and a scandal over the mishandling of more than 50 million pension-fund accounts. None of these crises, Abe maintained, directly prompted his plans to depart once the LDP chooses a new PM next week. Instead, Abe put most of the blame on a snub by one man: opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa, whom the PM claimed had refused to meet to discuss...
...ambitious foreign-policy goals, Abe was undone by far more prosaic domestic concerns. According to results of a government survey released on Sept. 8, what the Japanese most wanted from their leaders were medical and pension reform, better elderly care and more jobs. A commitment to defense and regional security was low on the list, lagging even behind worries over Japan's declining birth rate. Abe didn't appear to sense the country's preoccupation with bread-and-butter economic issues. Even though Japan has finally crept out of recession, the PM failed to address a perception that only corporate...
...aging Japanese public was more worried about the state of its economy and failing pension system than the war on terror, which was never popular in Japan, and concerns grew that the country had become too close to the U.S. Abe never adjusted his priorities, and he paid the price at the polls. Though he said that the LDP would still fight to renew the Afghanistan bill, insiders have suggested the party may withdraw the bill in the face of opposition from the DPJ and the public. If that happens, Japan will likely return to the arm's-length relationship...