My Opinion this week(62): Soccer lottery bill The Upper House, supported by members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and one of its allies, New Party Sakigake, approved a revised bill on March 20 to start a soccer lottery system that would raise funds for the promotion of athletics. The bill, proposed by a nonpartisan group of lawmakers, was immediately sent back to the Lower House for deliberations on the revisions, which include a clause stipulating that the education minister order a cease to betting if it is found to adversely affect minors. According to the report by some newspaper, they commented that the Upper House did a kind of good job amending the original bill in that way. I do not agree with that at all. As to this bill, the Japan Lawyers Association, the Japan PTA association , etc. expressed their opposition to the bill. They say that soccer lottery system to raise fund sounds good but it is a gamble at any rate. Soccer are loved by a number of young people in this country and such lottery will provide some adverse effects on the mind of young people. Betting on sports create some bad effect on the healthy image of sports whatever they are any kinds. The group of people who try to introduce a lottery system try to justify it by explaining that it is a very effective means to collect money to promote various sports and to use the money for some welfare purpose. They also stressed the point that such lottery is widely introduced in some advanced European countries. So what? Don't say that the opposition by the Japan Lawyers Association and the Japan PTA Association is green or half-baked. I am for the half- baked opinion. It is true that such public gambles as horse races and bicycle races sponsored by local governments are now producing important source of fund necessary for various purposes for the local governments. The soccer lottery is considered as the same kind of gambles sponsored by local government. I don't agree with this view at all. I don't basically admit horse races and bicycle races too. Whatever they try to justify some necessity and rationale for holding those public gambles, and whatever they try to explain some healthy points and images of such races as sport events, they are surely gambles anyway which provide some bad effects on the mind of young people. The soccer lottery is entirely different from a public money lottery. While a public lottery is a lottery by itself, the soccer lottery is betting on the result of soccer games. While there is no room for public lottery to involve with some unfair practices on the result, it is possible that various dishonest and injustice practices will be involved in the case of soccer lottery. The question is a dispute on whether or not such healthy sports are allowed to become the target for such betting. The argument may be said to be green. I myself don't think that it is a green argument. Some other critics who are for the lottery insist that the capitalism is a kind of gamble by itself. People should have some toughness to get accustom to such gambling nature of the system to some extent. I am quite surprised with that kind of idea. What's in the world the capitalism is referred to a kind of gambles. Such idea itself is a background for a number of scandals happened in securities firms in these days. The Upper House looked to be satisfied with the fact that they could have requested the Lower House to amend the bill as the way explained at the beginning. I believe that the Upper House should have voted down the bill, if they advocate that they are the parliament of common sense. 1998/4/4 Tadashi HAYASEMy Opinion this week(63): The Big Bang On April 1, the Big Bang started.There were several interesting TV and newspaper reports on this day. At one of super markets in Tokyo, some customers were paying by dollar bills at the counter for the shop accepted them. At a snack shop in Kyusyu, they promote guests to pay in dollar to them feel visiting some snacks in a foreign country. At one of foreign banks in Tokyo, some potential customers were listening to the explanation on time deposit in foreign currencies from the staffs of the banks. Some TV news commentators commented that why the Government decided to start the big bang at such time when the country was in financial turmoil and the economy was in serious conditions. The Big Bang would worsen the situation much more. Many commentators made such kind of comments. I wonder if they were right. I do not deny some aspect about what those commentators said. However, the decision on the Big Bang had already been made a few years ago so that everybody could have prepared for the day. The outcome from the bang would have been the same regardless when it had been started. The main reason why financial turmoil happened today came from the fact that Japanese banks had made very poor management in many respects in the past. It has been necessary for them to improve their management style in many ways preparing for the Big Bang, namely free competition of banking business with domestic and foreign banks in global market. There still exists a great concern on whether or not those Japanese banks could have finished preparing for such severe competition in the global market. For an example, I know no Japanese banks are now offering a kind of high interest time deposit that is commonly provided by a certain foreign banks. This is true with another banking business such as the money transfer. Some of this business is now done by convenience stores including payment to utilities firms, payment to mail order firms, etc. Some convenience stores are starting foreign money exchange business was only done by banks before. Most of the Japanese banks are still providing a kind of bad service on money transfer keeping high transfer commission. There are a number of disputes on the advantage and disadvantage on the Big Bang. However, I believe that there is no disadvantage at all as far as for the consumers are concerned. It is surely a serious difficulty for those city banks who had been accustomed to be protected by a so called convoy ship system in Japan. We consumers sincerely hope that those city banks will be able to survive in such severe competition and to become strong and competitive banks in the global markets. The Big Bang at this time is just one phase of globalization for Japan and Japanese economy. Another big bangs, deregulation and promotion of free competition are starting soon in various other phase of economy and society. The timing seems to be certainly bad. But, this will become a good impetus and motives to start several drastic actions to improve banking system in Japan. 1998/4/11 Tadashi HAYASE
My Opinion this week(64): Prime Minister vows tax cuts again On April 9, Prime Minister Hashimoto announced that his government will double the 2 trillion yen tax cut for this year and implement a 2 trillion yen tax cut in 1999. The announcement is a big policy reversal aimed at restoring confidence in the economy, both at home and abroad. The government is working on a stimulus package that would exceed 16 trillion yen. They will get started on a possible revision of the Fiscal Structural Reform Law enacted last year to accommodate the extra fiscal stimulus. Opposition parties criticized Prime Minster Hashimoto's policy reversal on Thursday and ready to pressure him to step down over his economic failures during Diet session. Prime Minister said that he had no idea of stepping down from the Prime Ministership. "If I had been afraid of the responsibility issue and failed to take these steps, that would have been more of the responsibility matter," he stressed. Needless to say, the policy change made at this time was the result of the very strong pressure both from inside and outside of the country insisting that the world economy will face to a serious depression if Japan would fail to revive its economy as soon as possible. Especially the United States has repeatedly demanded some drastic economic pump-priming measures mainly tax cuts to Japanese Government. They are afraid that their red international trade balance against Japan will expand again which will worsen their economy even though they are in a good condition at the moment. The other European and Asian countries have demanded the same kind of measures to Japan. There are the big pressure from various sectors of the inside of the country as well. The Prime Minster have vowed to the pressure at last. Business leaders mostly welcomed Prime Minister's announcement to implement 2 trillion yen in additional tax cut. But as far as the reaction of stock markets is concerned, there are no drastic improvement on the price index in the following day's stock market. Analysts commented that the effect of those level of tax cuts had already been reflected before in the market. The same kind of low reaction from the market had been repeated before whenever the Government announced some measures to stimulate economy. We should realize the fact that Japan is now in the process of basic reconstruction of economy. Those reconstructive measures are fiscal restructure reform, stabilization of financial & money market, big bang, public works on information and telecommunication and so on. Such reconstructive measures for total economy are very necessary not only for Japan and Japanese people but also for international societies and people living there. The reconstruction itself takes time. Nevertheless, those requests from inside and outside is too abrupt and short-sighted. The Prime Minister Hashimoto should take a defiant attitude toward the inside and the outside of the country once in a while. He should say that the economy will not improve in such short period of time as the market expects. It is a kind of bluff to say that all world will be in serious condition if Japan failed to take some proper actions at the present. He should explain that Japanese economy is now hospitalized. It will take some time to improve the basic structure of economy at any rate. The international communities are asked to wait for some time before Japanese economy will complete improving their economic structure. Japan cannot take any measures which are beyond their control. The Government should now stop taking a series of small and short-sighted counter measures to revive economy, which have been found out to be ineffective and useless in the past one year or so. It is now the time for Mr.Hashimoto to say the following. "We must take some basic reconstructive measures to improve this economic conditions. It takes time. So please be more patient on what we are now trying to do. " 1998/4/18 Tadashi HAYASE
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