Japan Press Daily Service
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FIRST TRANSMISSION, TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2000
JPS 04-064 G-7 communique tries to save U.S. stock market at cost of Japan' economy
TOKYO APR 18 JPS -- Akahata's editorial of April 18 says Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors is only interested in saving the U.S. stock market at the cost of Japan's economy.
Excerpts of the editorial follow:
The statement of G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors failed to present any effective measures to cope either with the U.S. stock bubble, which was about to burst, or with the Japanese economy which has a "time bomb" of the world's largest national bonds.
The unrealistically high U.S. stock prices have been a worry to the world economy. Japan's Economic Planning Agency in its Economic White Paper referred to the disproportionately high U.S. stock prices as Achilles' heel of the U.S. economy.
The latest G-7 statement followed last year's example of obscuring the responsibility of the U.S. in this respect, saying that the U.S. economy "remains very strong."
On the contrary, their agreement on the Japanese economy is outrageous and unacceptable. The statement calls on Japan to continue to bear the two burdens of greater budgetary spending and a zero interest rate policy.
The very low-interest rate policy which the government has adopted since 1995 worked to siphon any income from interest out of the people's account into the account of banks and major corporations. This is a major cause of the depressed personal consumption. Japan's zero interest rate policy since February 1999 particularly involves the danger of a major inflation.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers many times insisted that the Japanese government take every available step to increase domestic demand. What he has in mind is to prop up the U.S. stock market with the inflow of money from Europe and Japan, and to boost the U.S. economy by making households spend more than their earned income, helped by what they earn from the stock market.
The Japanese people will not tolerate the U.S. economy to proceed with such an aberration at the expense of the Japanese people. (end item)
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JPS 04-067 Japan's support for U.S. bubble proves to be risky: Akahata on stock price plunge
TOKYO APR 18 JPS -- Akahata of April 8 commented on the latest plunge in U.S. stock prices and the subsequent effect on the Japan's stock market as follows:
Last weekend's U.S. stock market's plunge was followed by a similar plunge in Japan. This shows how risky it is for the Japanese Government to follow U.S. steps in the bubble economy which includes the "financial big bang," as is clear from Japan's share price plunge on the highly speculative market, notably in IT-related stocks, such as Sony, Softbank, and NTT.
Society that depends on inflated value of share prices, whether in the U.S. or Japan, will entail corporate restructuring for maintaining stock prices on a short-run basis, which only helps ruin individuals' healthy work-style.
The bubble economy is doomed to burst soon or later. Nevertheless, the Japanese government and ruling parties, under the pressure from the U.S. government, are now taking a position of sustaining Japan's stock prices in an unnatural manner by keeping an the extremely low interest-rate policy and injecting public funds to the stock market at the cost of public interests. (end item)