What the Mori Government should Do Now
Heizo Takenaka
President, the Tokyo Foundation and Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University
Each time a new government has been installed since the bursting of the economic bubble, the issues discussed have been "economic revival" and "invigoration of the economy," but for the government of the day, there should be a more important issue, one that surpasses the short-term goal of simply improving the economy, namely economic and social reform based on an understanding of the times. Without a correct understanding of the times, there can be no economic revival in the immediate future.
Serious Efforts Must Be Made to Put Finance on a Sound Footing and Establish and Implement IT Strategies
With the general election over, a new political system came into being. If the Diet members elected in 2000 serve their full term, they will hold the reins of government for four years until 2003. The second Mori cabinet, formed on July 4, must devise policies with the four years until 2003 in mind.
Awareness of the four years until 2003 means that the Mori government needs to promote two economic and social reforms, namely sound finance and measures to meet the IT revolution.
