The immediate task for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is to wrap up a specific reform package. While his slogans — "Structural reform with no sacred cows" and "No economic recovery without structural reform" — are basically supported here and abroad, stock prices have continued to fall.
One reason the market is disappointed is that Koizumi's initiative is tilted to the supply side, with no direct stimulus measures on the demand side; moreover, his supply-side program is still vague.
Another reason is the absence of safeguards for unemployment and bankruptcy, which will rise as reform begins to bite. Probably the biggest reason is that urgent measures like tax incentives to lure personal savings into the capital market have yet to be worked out.
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