November 25, 2011
Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo delivered a lecture at the Institute for Political Studies in Japan (IPSJ) on the world economy and Japan’s politics on November 24. Among the audience were executives of big corporations, academics, and senior members of major media companies.
IPSJ was established in 1975 to “study parliamentary politics in Japan.” Shii was invited to the Tokyo-based institution for the second time since March 2007.
On the world economy, Shii made it clear that the JCP viewed the present economic crisis since 2008 as a “combination of a monetary crisis and an over-production crisis.”
After 2008 when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, the total amount of government support provided to financial institutions was approximately $ 6 trillion, accounting for 1% of global GNP. It helped revive big banks and financial institutions, and the continuation in the flow of speculative money. On the other hand, there has not been any support for the real economy with unemployment, poverty, and the wealth gap spreading.
Shii said, “The over-production crisis is still serious.” He referred to the “Occupy Wall Street” movements spreading globally that demand a concrete redress of the gap between the “super rich 1% and the rest who make up the 99%” as a reflection of public outrage over the crisis.
He mentioned that there is an increased attention to the works of Marx among even those who have been shoring up the world capitalist system. George Magnus, one of the leading figures in the financial world, in a recently-published article advised policy-makers to study Karl Marx in order to understand the present world economic crisis.
“The present economic crisis is putting the capitalist economy to the test. In this situation, it is essential that Marx be viewed in a different light and his significance is rediscovered,” Shi said.
On Japan’s political landscape, the JCP Chair recalled the 2009 change of government. He said that it was brought about because people wanted to a change from LDP politics.
He pointed out that the DPJ government is, however, betraying this aspiration: Prime Minister Hatoyama went against his own promise on relocation of the Futenma Air Station and Prime Minister Kan further went back to the LDP line by proposing a consumption tax hike and participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
Shii criticized the Noda Cabinet as inheriting the worst of the previous two prime ministers, and being willing to go along with everything demanded by the United States and the financial circles.
“We have now two LDPs. There are no detectable differences between the two,” Shii said. “If the LDP and the DPJ are one and the same, there is no opportunity for the public to choose a different government. The ‘two-party system’ is now caught in a total gridlock,” he added.
Shii also emphasized that in this situation, the JCP is forging a series of “single-issue coalitions” irrespective of political affiliation, on such issues as opposition to TPP participation, shutdown of the all nuclear power plants, and prevention of a dictator coming to power in the Osaka election.
“As people become more and more disillusioned by the two major parties, they are more inclined to search for alternatives. This creates a space for the JCP to grow in influence, if we make the proper efforts,” Shii said.
In a question and answer session, when a participant asked how the JCP would deal with the world economic crisis and the movement of speculative money, Shii answered, “Being a major factor in destroying some national economies, speculative money should be strictly regulated on a world scale.”
To a suggestion that the JCP should also accept the state subsidy to political parties, Shii responded by saying, “The subsidy to political parties leads to their irresponsibility and unaccountability. Political parties should work to build a base of support and raise its own finances, and thus be in a position to represent the interests of the public at large.”
IPSJ was established in 1975 to “study parliamentary politics in Japan.” Shii was invited to the Tokyo-based institution for the second time since March 2007.
On the world economy, Shii made it clear that the JCP viewed the present economic crisis since 2008 as a “combination of a monetary crisis and an over-production crisis.”
After 2008 when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, the total amount of government support provided to financial institutions was approximately $ 6 trillion, accounting for 1% of global GNP. It helped revive big banks and financial institutions, and the continuation in the flow of speculative money. On the other hand, there has not been any support for the real economy with unemployment, poverty, and the wealth gap spreading.
Shii said, “The over-production crisis is still serious.” He referred to the “Occupy Wall Street” movements spreading globally that demand a concrete redress of the gap between the “super rich 1% and the rest who make up the 99%” as a reflection of public outrage over the crisis.
He mentioned that there is an increased attention to the works of Marx among even those who have been shoring up the world capitalist system. George Magnus, one of the leading figures in the financial world, in a recently-published article advised policy-makers to study Karl Marx in order to understand the present world economic crisis.
“The present economic crisis is putting the capitalist economy to the test. In this situation, it is essential that Marx be viewed in a different light and his significance is rediscovered,” Shi said.
On Japan’s political landscape, the JCP Chair recalled the 2009 change of government. He said that it was brought about because people wanted to a change from LDP politics.
He pointed out that the DPJ government is, however, betraying this aspiration: Prime Minister Hatoyama went against his own promise on relocation of the Futenma Air Station and Prime Minister Kan further went back to the LDP line by proposing a consumption tax hike and participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.
Shii criticized the Noda Cabinet as inheriting the worst of the previous two prime ministers, and being willing to go along with everything demanded by the United States and the financial circles.
“We have now two LDPs. There are no detectable differences between the two,” Shii said. “If the LDP and the DPJ are one and the same, there is no opportunity for the public to choose a different government. The ‘two-party system’ is now caught in a total gridlock,” he added.
Shii also emphasized that in this situation, the JCP is forging a series of “single-issue coalitions” irrespective of political affiliation, on such issues as opposition to TPP participation, shutdown of the all nuclear power plants, and prevention of a dictator coming to power in the Osaka election.
“As people become more and more disillusioned by the two major parties, they are more inclined to search for alternatives. This creates a space for the JCP to grow in influence, if we make the proper efforts,” Shii said.
In a question and answer session, when a participant asked how the JCP would deal with the world economic crisis and the movement of speculative money, Shii answered, “Being a major factor in destroying some national economies, speculative money should be strictly regulated on a world scale.”
To a suggestion that the JCP should also accept the state subsidy to political parties, Shii responded by saying, “The subsidy to political parties leads to their irresponsibility and unaccountability. Political parties should work to build a base of support and raise its own finances, and thus be in a position to represent the interests of the public at large.”
