Japan's Public Didn't Buy Fumio Kishida's New Capitalism
> ...revive a flagging birth rate.
Just about every developed nation has this problem today and no one has an answer. It seems no amount of money can be thrown at the problem as people just don't want as many kids as they used to. And I'm not sure they wanted so many of them back then either but rather lived with the consequences of their actions as birth control wasn't nearly as available.
To face the problem we need to really consider how to make people far more productive in the fields where it really matters and we face a logjam. That's healthcare and hospitality/services for aging and end of life people. Today's methods and approaches will obviously not work down the road since the human capital simply won't be there.
The current solution of desperately importing human capital, almost exclusively low value human capital, in the hopes that enough of them and/or their offspring will be able to and willing to change adult diapers, go shopping, and cook meals for the resident elderly is clearly causing social issues of their own right now and appears destabilizing and unsustainable.
Governments need to open up innovation in the healthcare industry especially as it pertains to elderly and aging people. We need automation in the elderly care industries.
The problem with an export led growth model for a large country is that eventually workers make too much money to be reasonably supported by only exports. There’s a ceiling to this model because exporters need willing purchasers.
Out of all of Japan's problems, I think the fundamental root is they need to import a significant amount of energy. They do not have significant coal, oil, uranium. They have limited access to solar and wind for their population size. To offset all of their energy imports, they need to work very hard to produce a lot of exports.
The economic troubles are centered around having to pay a premium to import energy. The birth rate is negatively impacted by the economic situation. Their foreign policy has to keep energy access as a main priority.
Japan is an enigma in the sense that they have an extremely talented labor force. They also do not have to deal with brain drain. They’d benefit if they open up to more lax immigration policies. Contrast Japan to S.Korea where they have been more receptive to addressing labor shortage with seasonal and permanent migrant workers.
Kishida's problem is that he isn't a leader, it really is as simple as that. He says nice things but doesn't do anything. Great way to handle diplomacy (Kishida was once Japan's Foreign Minister), not so much leading an entire country.
He doesn't put the leader in leadership. That's why his politics have been stagnant, it's a leaderless ship.
The recent LDP financial scandals merely finally broke the back of a camel who was already suffering arthritis.
None of this is to say the LDP will lose governmental power, though. The opposition parties are somehow even worse.