The more 'Koizumi reform', the more distress for people -- Akahata editorial, July 30 (excerpts)

At a news conference after the Diet session closed, Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro praised his government saying that the recent rise in stock prices is a signal that structural reforms are producing results.

How frivolous it is for the prime minister to tout a slight increase in stock prices, which had plummeted to half the prices as the time his cabinet started, as a positive result of the "reform".

Personal consumption, the mainstay of the Japanese economy, is depressed.

In Japan, the mechanism is particularly inadequate to support the workers' rights and livelihoods, and the national budget always favors large corporations, paying little attention to the people's living conditions. This is the weakest point of the Japanese economy, which has exacerbated the economic recession to a serious degree and hampered economic recovery.

The economy has been caught in a vicious circle because the government with its "structural reform" policy has been assisting corporate restructuring, and changed for the worse the social services system and the taxation system. These policies have made the weak point of the Japanese economy, the product of the Liberal Democratic Party politics for many years, even more vulnerable.

For example, overtime work without pay is increasing, while there is a record rate of unemployment.

Under the policy of urging banks to write off bad loans, the Koizumi Cabinet has insisted that they lend money only to borrowers that can withstand corporate restructuring.

The storm of "restructuring" aimed at increasing profitability has brought about a V-shaped recovery to a handful of winners and unemployment or overtime work without pay to workers.

In this circle, increased profits for corporations do not increase income for workers. Instead, it can even jeopardize the reproduction of the labor force. In the past year, the number of people who committed suicide due to economic and living difficulties rose sharply, including deaths from overwork (karoshi) and karoshi-related suicides.

The government policy of adversely revising the social services system undermines the validity of the system and damages the household economy. The government plan for further tax increases has made personal consumption shrink further.

The "Koizumi reform" policy is the obstacle to economic recovery. The more "reform" is done, the more damage will be done to the economy.

It is now necessary for the government to shift its economic policy to one caring for people's lives, making large corporations fulfill their social responsibility. (end)