What Should We Do in 2011?

We need to carry out a drastic conversion of economic policy to revive the economy, taking measures to escape the deflationary spiral and realize full employment

What should the Japanese people do in 2011? With humble hearts we must look reality straight in the eye and fix the mistakes of the past.

What's important on the political front? Economic revival. We need to forge a new path, leaving behind the government's mistaken economic policies and adopting new policies that work. The Japanese economy is on the brink of collapse due to those mistaken economic policies. The economy has weakened and shrunk. The economy is not only at a standstill, it is declining. Unemployment is still a serious issue. The people's livelihoods have steadily declined. Corporate bankruptcies continue apace. Large and midsize manufacturers continue their moves overseas. The regional economies remain impoverished. The nation's smallest businesses are still suffering. To escape this situation, we need to revive the economy and put it back on the path of growth by enacting policies that will help us achieve that goal. The most effective step to invigorate the economy is to launch public-works projects with the aim of enlivening the regional economies.

The Kan Cabinet's decision to cut public works is a big mistake. The budget draft on the agenda of the 2011 regular Diet session needs to be altered. If we continue to cut public works, the regional economies will continue to dwell in poverty. We have to fix this. We need to enact economic policies that are centered around a large expansion of public works.

The top priority of the government when it comes to economic policy is to get us out of this deflationary spiral. We have to stop the neoliberal structural reforms that are bringing Japan to its knees. An addiction to fiscal reform is dangerous. Anti-industrial welfare policies are also dangerous. The Kan administration is spellbound by neoliberal reforms and anti-industrial welfare policies. We need to get out of this situation starting now.