经济学人下载:日本经济,使命在身

Carpe Diet
国会之殇

To do so, Mr Kan needs to craft a message as substantial as the challenges Tohoku faces. And he needs debate on it to ring out beyond the corridors of power. There are a few encouraging signs. As TEPCO’s compensation liabilities mount, Mr Kan is airing the once-unthinkable suggestion that it should be broken up. The government may end up on the hook for many of its liabilities, but a break-up could help spur long-overdue deregulation of the energy sector.

为达到此目标，菅直人首相需要传递一条如仙台面临的挑战般切实的信息。他也需发动辩论，使之顺利通过权力走廊。有几个鼓舞人心的消息。随着东京电力公司赔偿责任的增加，菅直人首相公开发表倡议，认为东电公司应解体。这在以前根本无法想象。政府也许最终要为公司承担诸多的责任，但公司解体可推动能源领域长期拖延的解除管制措施的实施。

More broadly, Mr Kan should seize the national mood of solidarity with Tohoku to persuade people to accept difficult reforms. Higher taxes will be needed not just to pay for reconstruction in Tohoku but also to help shore up Japan’s overstretched social-security system. The pension-eligible age, now nearly 65, may have to be raised sharply, too.

从更广大意义上讲，菅直人首相应借助全国人民与仙台人民同心协力的情绪，说服人民接受艰难的改革。增加税收不仅仅是仙台重建所必需的，也是巩固日本覆盖面过广的社会保障体系所必需的。退休金申领年龄线现在接近65，也需要大幅提升。

So far, Mr Kan’s message has been muddy. He has backtracked on an idea to enter talks to create a free-trade area known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, even though the parts-suppliers in Tohoku that have been damaged in the disaster would benefit from freer trade. He has yet to spell out deregulatory proposals that would encourage private companies to invest, in Tohoku and elsewhere.

到目前为止，菅直人首相传递的信息一直含混不清。即使仙台受灾的零件供应商可以受益于自由贸易，他也出尔反尔，反对开展对话、建立泛太平洋伙伴关系自由贸易区。他尚未提出解除管制建议，这些建议将鼓励私人公司投资于仙台及其他地区。

His excuse is politics: with a divided Diet, it is tough to be bold. But that ignores his ability to harness public opinion for the cause. Not for years have good ideas flowed so freely in Japan. But such moods don’t last. Miss this moment, Mr Kan, and Japan will rue it for years to come.

政治成了他的借口：国会分裂，想大胆改革也难。但这种托词忽视了首相发动民众、致力于改革的能力。多年来优秀思想不能像今日在日本自由传播。但这种情绪并不会持续。措施此刻良机，菅直人首相，包括日本，定会抱憾多年。