Will Abe Ever Be Able to Reform Japan’s Economy?

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In The Media

Will Abe Ever Be Able to Reform Japan’s Economy?

The December 2014 election has given Abe four more years until the next election. This potentially gives Abe the time needed to implement unpopular economic measures like structural reform in Japan.

By James L. Schoff

Published on Dec 15, 2014

Source: BloombergTV

In light of the low voter turnout in Japan’s December 2014, billed as a referendum on Prime Minister Abe’s economic policies known as “Abenomics,” Carnegie’s Jim Schoff was asked whether Abe should feel reaffirmed that his policies are what the Japanese people want. Schoff responded that the critical thing for Abe was that this election gave him a total of four years until needing another election, to implement his policies as a sort of “preemptive strike” against the uncoordinated opposition parties. Schoff said that Abe could now take the more unpopular steps and recover with a more productive economy. He added that Abe might take a number of specific short-term steps, such as implement a fiscal stimulus (around $25 billion) and a corporate tax cut so that the rate would be at a low of 20 percent. Schoff finished by saying that in the long-term Abe is looking to tackle deregulation in the electricity sector and also tackle the more entrenched issues of agriculture reform and healthcare reform.

The full interview is available at BloombergTV.

About the Author

James L. Schoff

Former Senior Fellow, Asia Program

James L. Schoff was a senior fellow in the Carnegie Asia Program. His research focuses on U.S.-Japan relations and regional engagement, Japanese technology innovation, and regional trade and security dynamics.

Recent Work

Paper
A High-Tech Alliance: Challenges and Opportunities for U.S.-Japan Science and Technology Collaboration
- James L. Schoff, Douglas E. Rake, Joshua Levy
Commentary
What’s the U.S. Take on Russia-Japan Relations?
- James L. Schoff

Economy East Asia Japan

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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