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Noda's Democratic Party of Japan took power three years ago pledging to end wasteful spending and the cozy ties between politicians and bureaucrats that dominated LDP politics during its decades in power after World War II. But the March 2011 disasters compounded the challenges of making such fundamental changes, and Noda was obliged to call elections in exchange for gaining passage in June of a highly unpopular sales tax increase. Both parties are "tinkering at the margins," said David Rea, an economist at Capital Economics in London. "The LDP seems like they're saying, `Let's go back to the good old days,'" Rea said, by spending heavily on construction. During Japan's decades of fast growth, massive investments in public works helped to redistribute wealth generated by its export sector to other, less competitive areas of the economy, and from the cities to the less affluent countryside. The Liberal Democrats acted as the conduit, rewarding the construction sector and other bastions of support with massive pork-barrel spending. Spending on public works might work in the short run, but given Japan's shrinking workforce and soaring social welfare and health costs, it is unsustainable in the long term, said Masahiro Matsumura, a professor at St. Andrews University in Osaka. "We cannot afford to spend everywhere, so the government has to decide on a more effective approach," Matsumura said. "Investments that don't lead to improved efficiency will be wasted." Reflecting such concerns, a $10.7 billion stimulus package announced late last month targeted spending on key sectors of the economy such as renewable energy and small and medium-sized companies. Many economists argue the only thing Japan can afford less than higher debt is austerity. But while its bond market remains a "safe haven" for global investors and it is not facing the sort of repayment crisis that is plaguing Greece and other European economies, there are limits, said Rea. "It is crucial that they put the economy on a more sustainable path," Rea said. "They are hugely indebted and paying more and more on refinancing a debt that will continue to go up." Ikeda, whose son is working with him in his barber shop because he was unable to find a more steady position, says he is more concerned for his two children than for himself. "My son isn't married. Salaries are low, so it's hard for him to get married or have a family or buy a home," he said. "I wish he could just have a normal job and life, nothing fancy. But it's gotten difficult for that to happen in modern Japanese society."
[Associated
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