The Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihiko Noda is facing tough times. Like so many other world leaders he is going to have to ask his people to take some strong medicine. Unlike many other countries his position is not necessarily secure enough to survive such times. He has only been in office since September 2011 following on from a long line of Prime Minister's who have resigned on the back of apparent failure.
Reports claim that Japan is fighting an ever increasing mountain of debt. If the figures bandied about are correct Japan has debts of around 200% of GDP. Ouch. Whilst this appears to be high it is in line with countries such as the UK. In fact the UK is higher. That does not mean that the Japanese government should not be trying to bring the figure down. Unless it does financial ruin is always a possibility.
The Japanese people, in general, though are not happy about plans to increase taxes to ease the country's debts. The current proposal is to double the 5% consumption tax. The majority of Japanese are unhappy to have that inflicted on them without the government making any cuts themselves. Polls show that many people in Japan want the government to look at "administration and fiscal reforms". Like most countries vast sums of taxpayers hard earned money is wasted by government officials.
Overall the Prime Minister and his cabinet are going to have to show that they are implementing money saving methods themselves rather than simply expecting the people to tighten their belts and endure hardship.
Reports claim that Japan is fighting an ever increasing mountain of debt. If the figures bandied about are correct Japan has debts of around 200% of GDP. Ouch. Whilst this appears to be high it is in line with countries such as the UK. In fact the UK is higher. That does not mean that the Japanese government should not be trying to bring the figure down. Unless it does financial ruin is always a possibility.
The Japanese people, in general, though are not happy about plans to increase taxes to ease the country's debts. The current proposal is to double the 5% consumption tax. The majority of Japanese are unhappy to have that inflicted on them without the government making any cuts themselves. Polls show that many people in Japan want the government to look at "administration and fiscal reforms". Like most countries vast sums of taxpayers hard earned money is wasted by government officials.
Overall the Prime Minister and his cabinet are going to have to show that they are implementing money saving methods themselves rather than simply expecting the people to tighten their belts and endure hardship.
The people of Japan are also rapidly approaching the first anniversary of the devastating tsunami and earthquake which rocked the country in March 2011. Such was the severity of the quake that it literally moved Japan's location slightly.
One lesson that it taught the people of Japan is that nuclear power is nowhere as safe as scientists profess it to be. In an ideal world it does offer clean power but this world is far from ideal. Nuclear power always has the potential to have a negative impact and that is what last year's Japanese disaster showed. When the Fukushima nuclear plant was irrevocably damaged so was confidence in nuclear energy production.
This weekend 2,000 Japanese people protested against the use of Nuclear power. They were on the streets of Yokohama demanding an end to nuclear power. The people of Japan know all too well the terrible power of nuclear weapons. Now they know the same terrible power of nuclear energy when it all goes wrong.
The protesters were made up on anti nuclear groups and environmentalists. However many people in Japan are currently living with the effects of the nuclear problems from last year's earthquake and opinions have changed. Until that event Japan was working towards nuclear power fulfilling the country's energy needs by 2030. Now many people in Japan are not happy about this.
Japan struggles to provide the countries energy needs and nuclear power looked as if it could be a life saver. Now it is feared the opposite is the reality.
One lesson that it taught the people of Japan is that nuclear power is nowhere as safe as scientists profess it to be. In an ideal world it does offer clean power but this world is far from ideal. Nuclear power always has the potential to have a negative impact and that is what last year's Japanese disaster showed. When the Fukushima nuclear plant was irrevocably damaged so was confidence in nuclear energy production.
This weekend 2,000 Japanese people protested against the use of Nuclear power. They were on the streets of Yokohama demanding an end to nuclear power. The people of Japan know all too well the terrible power of nuclear weapons. Now they know the same terrible power of nuclear energy when it all goes wrong.
The protesters were made up on anti nuclear groups and environmentalists. However many people in Japan are currently living with the effects of the nuclear problems from last year's earthquake and opinions have changed. Until that event Japan was working towards nuclear power fulfilling the country's energy needs by 2030. Now many people in Japan are not happy about this.
Japan struggles to provide the countries energy needs and nuclear power looked as if it could be a life saver. Now it is feared the opposite is the reality.
RSS Feed