Cruel to be kind

26 Jan 2022 By Pete Sweeney Follow @petesweeneypro

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wants to shrink the widening wealth gap. One big factor is decaying elderly finances as inflation ticks up and fiscal coffers shrink. More transfers to retirees would be smart politics, yet young Japanese pay too high a price supporting the old.

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Masakazu Tokura, head of Japan's biggest business lobby, said on Jan. 25 that companies must determine wages depending on their own situation rather than in a uniform manner as a prolonged Covid-19 pandemic has caused corporate profit to become uneven among sectors. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to stoke a virtuous cycle of wage growth, higher household income and stronger economic recovery.

Japan's factory activity grew at the fastest pace in four years in January as output growth picked up, the au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index reported on Jan. 24, but activity in the private sector as a whole slipped into contraction.

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