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Action 30. Leave No Stone Unturned in Expenditure Reform – Overhaul Independent Administrative Corporations, Government Procurement, Special Budgets, and Stick the Knife into Administrative Systems
Although the key to expenditure reform is to reduce social security spending, efforts must obviously also be made to implement administrative reform in other fields. Here, we discuss expenditure reform for all the ministries and agencies in Kasumigaseki.
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Jul 25 / 2016
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- National Budget
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Action 29. Leave No Stone Unturned in Expenditure Reform – Take a Knife to the Social Security System
The public cost of social security benefits is 31 trillion yen for the national government alone, and 42 trillion yen when the cost borne by local governments is included. In addition, the public cost of social security has been rising by one trillion yen each year. Japan allocates approximately eight times as much tax revenue to social security as it does defense, and as a result of this, it is impossible to assign enough national government funding for investment in education, in science and technology, for the children’s future, and so on. This “enemy within” is growing larger, and what is more important than anything else is to take it on squarely and begin implementing reform.
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Jul 23 / 2016
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- National Budget
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Action 28. Build a Mechanism for Reducing Expenditure into the Government
Greece’s fiscal collapse is still fresh in the mind. For Japan, which is encumbered with debt worth more than twice its GDP, the situation in Greece cannot be shrugged off as being someone’s else’s problem. However, the cases of countries such as Sweden and Canada, which have succeeded in fiscal reconstruction without experiencing a crisis, are less well known. In both these countries, a success factor was that they worked hard to reduce social security spending and built in a mechanism for reducing expenditure. We also needs to be willing to build a mechanism for cutting expenditure into the Japanese government.
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Jul 22 / 2016
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- National Budget
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Action 27. A Roadmap for Fiscal Reconstruction
Japan’s long-term debt has finally topped 1,000 trillion yen, which is double the country’s GDP. The finances of the Japanese national government, which were in extremely good shape right up until the collapse of the bubble economy, worsened during the “two lost decades.” Government spending swelled by 30 trillion yen while revenue shrunk by 20 trillion yen, and the government came to rely on debt to make up this shortfall of 50 trillion yen. But the solution to this problem is very simple: reduce spending by the 30-trillion-yen increase and boost revenue by the 20-trillion-yen decrease. That is the only way to fix things.
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Jul 21 / 2016
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- National Budget
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Action 26. Establish Preparedness for Immediate Response to Global Emergencies under the National Security Command Post!
The global security environment has changed and it is no longer possible for any nation to maintain peace on its own. There are factors for instability in the environment surrounding Japan, such as North Korea, which could spin out of control at any time, and China, which is vigilantly watching for an opportunity to expand its maritime interests. To protect Japan, it is necessary to establish security in the surrounding region and, furthermore, globally, and to also establish preparedness for immediate response to emergencies.
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Action 25. Be Prepared for Cyber Wars and Space Wars!
In January 2007, China conducted a successful demonstration of a trial to destroy a satellite with a ground-launched missile. China has been developing its own GPS independent from the U.S. system, clearly indicating its intention to challenge the United States’ dominance of space. The threat of cyber-attacks by terrorist nations and other terrorist actors targeting computers at power generation plants and air traffic control centers has also been increasing. The stage for national security is shifting to space and cyberspace.
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Action 24. Selection and Concentration of Defense Forces!
While China and North Korea are relentlessly attempting to infringe on Japanese national interests, the budget allocated to national defense has been restricted due to a de facto “GDP cap.” It would be best to increase defense budgets without any limit. However, in order to defend our country by ourselves under conditions of restricted national finances, it is necessary to focus on the selection and concentration of our defensive forces.
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Action 23. Establish National Security Policies that Reflect Reality!
While the relative power of U.S. armed forces is declining, the security environment in the East Asian region has become increasingly challenging, namely, the situation in North Korea has become unstable and China is aiming to expand its maritime interests. In addition to its provocative actions around the Senkaku Islands, China is causing conflicts over territorial rights in the South China Sea. We must face up to the fact that we must protect our country ourselves and, instead of averting our eyes away from national defense issues, need to make serious efforts to develop national security policies for this new era.
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Action 22. Enhance Communication Power and Network Power!
In the international arena, decisions are made by leaders, who are people of emotion and will. There are two powers that influence these people of emotion and will: one is communication and the other is personal networks. However, a low awareness of the importance of communication and weak international networks are traits of many Japanese. It is necessary to enhance these to increase the country’s influence on the international stage.
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Jul 15 / 2016
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- Foreign Affairs
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Action 21. ODA Power: Clarify ODA Strategies and Actively Develop Relationships of Trust with Other Countries!
Following the Great East Japan Earthquake, a total of 163 countries and regions, 43 organizations and more than 670 NGOs announced that they would provide Japan with support. This can be viewed as an expression of approval and gratitude for Japan’s long years of official development assistance (ODA) and other forms of international cooperation. However, Japan’s ODA budget, which maintained the rank of world No. 1 for eight years from 1993, has dropped to fifth place at present. ODA is without doubt a powerful force for Japanese diplomacy and therefore should be increased.
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Jul 14 / 2016
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- Foreign Affairs
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