The Gods of Incompetence

I heard an executive at a small company cry out: "If the government, Finance Ministry and central bank, with their image of extreme incompetence, are entrusted with Japan's economy, we're in for a collapse." The message is clear: Get to work on measures to boost the economy!

Recently, I listened to what an executive of a small business had to say. Here's a sample:

"It's as if Prime Minister Kan, former Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa, Finance Minister Noda and Bank of Japan Governor Shirakawa know nothing about the lives of the Japanese people. They are very insensitive to the worsening economic conditions. Too insensitive, in fact. Those of us running small businesses are in life-or-death mode now. The cash is not flowing. The banks aren't providing financing. It's like they have the attitude that if we fail, we fail.

"Prime Minister Kan doesn't know anything about the lives of the Japanese people. All Finance Minister Noda talks about is fiscal reconstruction. I don't get the impression that they are trying to improve our situations and help the people out. Ichiro Ozawa keeps talking about the manifesto. If that manifesto was enforced, Japan's economy would be brought to its knees. It needs to be rethought.

"But the worst of all is BOJ Governor Shirakawa. He is the God of Incompetence. When I see his face on TV, I quickly turn the set off. He's completely unreliable and ice cold. It's as if he only thinks about himself and the BOJ. I wish he'd make the central bank work for the people. If not, I wish he would step aside."

Kan, Ozawa, Noda and especially Shirakawa, if you don't have the will to fulfill the duties of the position you hold, now would be a good time to step aside. I would like to ask Shirakawa to voluntarily step down from his post at the Bank of Japan.