Drawing on 30 years' experience with Japan's Ministry of Finance, he expressed pessimism for the short term but optimism for the long term.
New leadership is necessary to continue deregulation and spur efficiency.
Japan is experiencing an IT investment boom, but only in regard to big, export-oriented corporations. By some accounts, these corporations are now more productive than their United States counterparts, but they employ only 10 percent of the workforce. In fact, industries such as farming, food processing, construction, and real estate are even more protected and politicized than 10 years ago. As the economy continues to stagger, the ruling party loses support. But this very weakness prompts the politicians to engage in more pork-barrel spending, to preserve their traditional power base.