Japan, Western world differ on mkt reforms
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
From Fazle Rashid
NEW YORK, Sept 01: Japan is on collision course with the Western world about the measures needed to set the global economy back to its normal trail. Both of course agree to curtail the power and the compensation packages of the all powerful government bureaucrats and company executives but they sharply differ on market reforms.
Japan's prime minister-designate Yukio Hatoyama has promised to shift away from excessive market reforms of recent years whereas his British counterpart Gordon Brown made a passionate plea for a coordinated effort to rectify the systemic weakness that led to the current global financial crisis.
Japan is now more reluctant than ever to use market forces to raise productivity but these changes are crucial, the New York Times (NYT) quoted an analyst as saying. The recent economic crisis resulted from a way of thinking based on the idea that American-style free-market economy represents a universal and ideal economic order, the same paper said. American-style capitalism has been described as something void of morals or moderation and a blight Japan must cast aside at all cost, Japan's premier-designate said. Japan will become a more demanding US ally. A state department official said US will work with the new government to further cement the "indispensible alliance".
Both Japan and Western world view bureaucrats and company executives as common adversaries. Japan has promised to free itself from excessive bureaucratic entanglements and has slapped a ban on government officials being reappointed after retirement in any government agency or private sector company. Gordon Brown has pledged tough action to clamp down on excessive remunerations for bankers.
Rewards should be based not on speculative gains but on long term success. Other European leaders have called for further steps to prevent excessive risk taking by large banks. The French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel who faces an election, said no "bank should be allowed to become so big that it can blackmail the governments".
Meanwhile, the summit meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) leaders set for later this month is expected to take many crucial decisions. These excessive cannot be allowed to be repeated. It would be a historic mistake for governments in the US, UK, Europe and other industrialised countries to abandon the fiscal and monetary stimulus adopted in these countries, a prestigious paper quoted Gordon Brown as saying.
In these hard time of credit crunch the news that Walt Disney would acquire Marvel Entertainment creator of Spider-Man and Fastastic Four at a cost of $4.0 billion has caused quite a buzz. Marvel has forcefully exploited its most popular characters through motion pictures, video games and consumer products.
Google has forged a distribution alliance with Sony's PC division and is in talk with other computer manufacturers to promote the sale of its Chrome browser.
And on the political front, the news from Afghanistan that Hamid Karzai has been trying to manipulate the outcome of presidential election in his favour and the growing strength of the Talebans have led to renewed concern in Washington. The top military commander in Afghanistan said about deterioration of situation there in a report to Washington, the NYT said. US army has suffered heaviest death tolls to date in July and August. The situation in Afghanistan is serious, US commander admitted.
NEW YORK, Sept 01: Japan is on collision course with the Western world about the measures needed to set the global economy back to its normal trail. Both of course agree to curtail the power and the compensation packages of the all powerful government bureaucrats and company executives but they sharply differ on market reforms.
Japan's prime minister-designate Yukio Hatoyama has promised to shift away from excessive market reforms of recent years whereas his British counterpart Gordon Brown made a passionate plea for a coordinated effort to rectify the systemic weakness that led to the current global financial crisis.
Japan is now more reluctant than ever to use market forces to raise productivity but these changes are crucial, the New York Times (NYT) quoted an analyst as saying. The recent economic crisis resulted from a way of thinking based on the idea that American-style free-market economy represents a universal and ideal economic order, the same paper said. American-style capitalism has been described as something void of morals or moderation and a blight Japan must cast aside at all cost, Japan's premier-designate said. Japan will become a more demanding US ally. A state department official said US will work with the new government to further cement the "indispensible alliance".
Both Japan and Western world view bureaucrats and company executives as common adversaries. Japan has promised to free itself from excessive bureaucratic entanglements and has slapped a ban on government officials being reappointed after retirement in any government agency or private sector company. Gordon Brown has pledged tough action to clamp down on excessive remunerations for bankers.
Rewards should be based not on speculative gains but on long term success. Other European leaders have called for further steps to prevent excessive risk taking by large banks. The French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel who faces an election, said no "bank should be allowed to become so big that it can blackmail the governments".
Meanwhile, the summit meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) leaders set for later this month is expected to take many crucial decisions. These excessive cannot be allowed to be repeated. It would be a historic mistake for governments in the US, UK, Europe and other industrialised countries to abandon the fiscal and monetary stimulus adopted in these countries, a prestigious paper quoted Gordon Brown as saying.
In these hard time of credit crunch the news that Walt Disney would acquire Marvel Entertainment creator of Spider-Man and Fastastic Four at a cost of $4.0 billion has caused quite a buzz. Marvel has forcefully exploited its most popular characters through motion pictures, video games and consumer products.
Google has forged a distribution alliance with Sony's PC division and is in talk with other computer manufacturers to promote the sale of its Chrome browser.
And on the political front, the news from Afghanistan that Hamid Karzai has been trying to manipulate the outcome of presidential election in his favour and the growing strength of the Talebans have led to renewed concern in Washington. The top military commander in Afghanistan said about deterioration of situation there in a report to Washington, the NYT said. US army has suffered heaviest death tolls to date in July and August. The situation in Afghanistan is serious, US commander admitted.