Japan aims to reinvigorate Tokyo as global finance hub

TOKYO, May 27, 2007 (AFP) - Faced with growing competition from Hong Kong and Singapore, Japan aims to reinvigorate Tokyo as a global financial hub with a lofty goal of developing a new foreigner-friendly high-rise banking district.

The idea has raised eyebrows among foreign fund managers in the region whose biggest complaint about Tokyo is often not the lack of a decent office or apartment but high taxes and strict regulations.

Yuji Yamamoto, the minister for financial services, recently unveiled a plan for Tokyo's own version of London's Canary Wharf, a gleaming skyscraper banking district in once-derelict British docklands.

High-rise offices with 24-hour access and onsite health clubs would be developed along with housing complexes to encourage foreign banks to cluster in the area in the capital around the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Bank of Japan.

But Yamamoto did not say whether Japan would tackle high taxes and red tape, the most common complaints about Tokyo from fund managers, many of whom opt to work in Singapore or Hong Kong instead even if they manage Japanese stocks.

"Building buildings doesn't create a financial system," said one fund manager based in Singapore who asked not to be named because it could be bad for business.

"Japan has an unfavourable tax regime both for financial products and the individual. The overall operating environment in Japan is unfavourable because there is a deep suspicion of capitalism," he added.

Japan's government, concerned Tokyo has been losing business to rival financial centres such as Hong Kong and Singapore, has set up two expert committees to look at ways to boost financial competitiveness.

"Market share losses to London, Hong Kong, and Singapore have created a sense of crisis," Robert Feldman, a managing director and economist at Morgan Stanley, wrote in a report in February.

He said foreign managers in Tokyo often bemoan the lack of sufficient staff who are fluent in English.

Other frequent complaints include the length of time it takes to travel from Tokyo's Narita airport to the city centre and the firewall in Japan that means corporate and investment banking operations must be separated.

"There are still many many regulations which are a big problem," said Martin Schulz, a research fellow at the Fujitsu Research Institute.

He said firms were increasingly looking to integrate their banking and brokerage business which is not yet possible in Japan.

"This is where the money is and it's a problem for many of these banks," he said.

Britain's "Big Bang" overhaul of its financial regulations two decades ago and its pool of English-speaking workers helped to make London Europe's top financial centre ahead of Germany's Frankfurt.

The head of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Taizo Nishimuro, also warned that the plan for a new district for foreign banks, while welcome, will not be enough on its own to boost Japan's financial competitiveness.

"We cannot wait until the time when those high-rise buildings are to be built before the Tokyo financial market gets bigger and greater," he told reporters recently, noting such "hindrances" as regulations and high taxation.

But experts say major foreign banks look set to stay in Tokyo, hoping to benefit from a pick-up in demand for stocks from Japanese individuals and investment banking opportunities in partnership with local players.

US giant Citigroup last month secured a takeover offer of the scandal-hit Japanese securities firm Nikko Cordial for 7.7 billion dollars as hostility to takeovers by foreign companies gradually abates.

And with the Japanese economy recovering from its long slump, Tokyo looks set to remain "a very big market which cannot be ignored by the bigger players," said Schulz.

The thing about Greater Tokyo (despite its immense economy) that makes it not as "business-friendly" as the likes of London and New York is its inability to adapt to the latest trends in business transactions. There's too much red-tape in the sense that a lot of businesses are stuck in their traditional ways.

Much smaller but, definitely, more dynamic cities like Singapore and Hong Kong are better places for business whether for investment or for joint-venture prospects simply because these dynamic duos streamline every aspect of their business climate to allow more transparency and efficiency. I mean, business transactions made in Hong Kong or Singapore are free-flowing and nearly glitch-free.

Another factor that makes New York, London, Singapore, and Hong Kong more enticing locations for foreign (foreign to the country or region) investments is its ambiguity, primarily, on the culture side. And, the language-barrier being the biggest sub-factor. Culture-wise, the Japanese aren't simply as open as Americans or the British.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love Japan and the Japanese people's ability to be able to abide by the rules more than any major country in the world. But it needs to loosen up a bit. It needs to loosed foreign immigration rules so that foreigners willing to immigrate to their country won't have a hard time doing so. Innovation is key in this century (It's innovate or die...baby)...Japan needs to realize that.

Fidelity moves Japanese equity trading to Hong Kong

TOKYO, May 29 (Reuters) - U.S. asset management company Fidelity plans to shift its Japanese equities trading desk to Hong Kong from Tokyo in a move that may be the latest sign of Japan's diminishing importance in Asian finance.

Fidelity said on Tuesday it will send seven of its traders to Hong Kong, integrating them with a larger, cross-market trading desk there. The company's 21 Japan fund managers will remain in Tokyo.

A spokeswoman for Fidelity, which in Tokyo has a staff of about 450 and manages about $47 billion in assets, said the firm was not pulling away from the world's second-largest economy.

"We purely made this decision from an operational efficiency standpoint, and it has no impact on the way we do business in Japan," said Tomoko Aikawa, the company's director of corporate communications in Tokyo. "It's not going to change our commitment (to Japan)."

But that may be little consolation for Yuji Yamamoto, Japan's financial services minister.

Last week, Yamamoto admitted what many financial players have said for some time: Tokyo risks becoming Asia's financial backwater.

"Japan's internationalisation efforts have lagged," Yamamoto said in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

Despite its economic strength, Japan accounts for only 5 percent of financial industry profits worldwide.

In 1990, Tokyo's stock market capitalisation made up 30 percent of the global total. By 2006, the contribution had fallen to below 10 percent.

The merger and acquisition market here is just a 12th of the size of the U.S. M&A market, and currency trading amounts to about half of the U.S. market total, according to the Nikkei business daily.

EXODUS FROM TOKYO

High taxes and finicky regulators have been blamed for driving foreigners to smaller but more cosmopolitan centres such as Singapore and Hong Kong.

"The Asia FX market was focused all around Tokyo. In the last two years, we've seen an exodus, literally an exodus, from Tokyo towards Singapore and Hong Kong, with Singapore leading the way," said a currency broker in Hong Kong.

With the rise of those centres, Tokyo is increasingly seen as a national financial hub, not an international one, said Nick Frank, director of Strategem Global Recruitment in London.

"Even though my background is Tokyo and my original recruitment network has always been in Tokyo ... 70 to 80 percent of my business in now in Singapore and Hong Kong," said Frank, who specialises in placing bankers in Asia.

Yamamoto has acknowledged that countries with low corporate taxes such as Singapore have had an easier time luring foreign firms than has Japan.

However, he has so far given no hint that Japan would ease its tax rate for companies.

He has said Tokyo should launch its own version of London's Canary Wharf, a revitalised district now home to some of the world's largest financial firms.

More favourable zoning rules could help lure more financial firms to the Nihombashi area near the Bank of Japan, he said.

The aggregate market value of Tokyo is the third place.
It is a scale to be next to NASDAQ, "Euro Next + OＭX".
I am against calling in foreign capital.
The reason is because the Japanese electrical manufacturer which has high technology is purchased.

Japan and the world are rolled up in barbarian economic system created by a Jew and an Anglo-Saxon.
The government of Japan and various countries in the world does not so have to be eager.

U.S.A. which was defeated by Japan and Germany by manufacturing industry mainly in 80's.
It revived by finance and IT after 90's.
And U.S.A. is going to conquer the world again.

It happnes in the world now.
Ten years later, Europe (except the U.K.) and Japan will be regret.

To hkskyline
hkskyline which did a post of this thread, "Hong Kong and Singapore a position as the money market is riseing".
Do you want to say in this way?
The Chinese had better abandon ultra right wing ideology.

In this site, a person of Japan and Germany of a major economic power are quiet generally.
It is people of a country of "C" and "A" and "B" that self-assertion is very strong, and attracting attention very much.

Reuters is a British-based news service.

Having a strong domestic economy is not the same as being a strong international hub.

Someone is a bit brainwashed by right-wingist propaganda and conspiracy theories back home.

I am against the Friedman economics that the Anglo-Saxons are spreading.
The drop of a wealthy person was not gone around in the lower layer after all.

The system which gets big profit just to change money is unhealthy.
I will fail sometime.

Well even if you don't agree with it, it rules the world, and everyone has to adapt or stay in their own bubble. That's one of the crisis points Japan faces as the world gets more and more internationalized. Having strong domestic companies export alone is not enough to survive in today's global economy.

We can question, but we can't change reality.

In reality, a finance special ward design advances. A Japanese bureaucrat is a dog of neoliberalism, too. They are going to do Bank of Japan neighborhood of Tokyo in the Wall Street.
The classical economics group such as Keynes school and Joseph E. Stiglitz, and Frankfurt school made reflux in particular after 90's.
It is Chicago school now to be superior. The elites in the world that acquired MBA in U.S.A. are attacked by poison of the neoliberalism.

現実には、金融特区構想は進んでいく。日本の官僚も、新自由主義の犬だ。東京の日銀界隈を、ウォール街にしようとしている。90年代以降特に、ケインズ学派やジョセフ スティグリッツら、古典派経済学派及び、フランクフルト学派が退潮した。今、優勢なのはシカゴ学派だ。アメリカでMBAを取得した世界中のエリートは、新自由主義の毒におかされている。

It is defeatism.
It rise in a voice of the anti-globalism.
I think that the present Jewish economic system will fail in the future. In U.S.A., the CEO of the southern part and the middle western district says a thing similar to me.
Of course in continent Europe.

それは敗北主義。
反グローバリズムの声は、年々高まっている。
将来、今のユダヤ経済システムは、破綻すると思う。
私は、ウォール街のエリートと、中国人は、イデオロギーが似ていると思う。
アメリカにおいても、南部や中西部などのＣＥＯは、私と同じ様なことを言っている。
勿論、大陸欧州も。

Japan has to adapt to modern economic circumstances. To refuse to do so will only make the actions necessary to reverse the situation more harsh. It happened to Britain and America who thought they could still rely on heavy industry years after it began moving abroad to find cheaper labour markets. The result was drastic actions had to be taken to reverse the trend. Granted pure monetarism was a failure but it cannot be denied the rise of Neo classical economics has stimulated the growth of the world economy, and opened up markets. Inflation and unemployment have declined, although underlying problems persist in the forms of large debts and poor increase in number of jobs, but the situation has drastically improved. Markets have to adapt to the outside world. If that means decreasing some corporate tax, it must be done to stimulate the economy.

Japan is a economic super power but cannot afford to lapse into complacency as it has done in the last decade especially with economies like China growing exponentially.

I don't see how it is justifiable to relate modern economics to 'Anglo-Saxons.' This is a world economy and every country is participating to benefit themselves as best they can. Assigning particular traits to cultures or races is bollocks! Pragmatism should be the order of the day.

I would agree that the political and social ideology of neoliberals like Malcolm Freidman benefit ruling elites and perpetuate inequality. However, strong economies help pull people out of poverty and pay for social welfare and health services. Dogmatically retaining old failing attitudes only increases frustration and pessimism.

A thought totally objects with me.
The U.K. fell to the pure import country of the industrial product in the Thatcher times. In addition, the difference of the poverty and wealth spread, too. Briton cannot choose the hospital freely.
U.S.A. does not produce even a milk bottle and buckets at the time of the car washing at home.
They import it from the factory of the downtown area of Tokyo.
The hospitalization is not possible even if infected with a heavy disease because it is not the universal care. In Japan, the operation on the heart is taken for 3,000 dollars, but takes it more than 100,000 dollars in U.S.A.
Far from having done the world wealthily, the neoliberalism ideology makes it unhappy.
Karel van Wolferen of the Dutch scholar published a book called "absurd system which It make only U.S.A. happy, and make the world unhappy" in Japan ten years ago and criticized neoliberalism. I think that he is right.
In addition, please read written by Eric.Schlosser "FAST FOOD NATION".

In addition, may eternity continue buying a cheap industrial product from China?
There are the Chinese personnel expenses in an upward trend, too, and the yuan will rise, too.
The American must come to give up that I continue over-consumption by having you purchase a national debt from Asia.
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Japenese
私と考えが全く反対です。
英国は、サッチャー時代に、工業製品の純輸入国に転落しました。また、貧富の差も拡大し、病院も自由に選べません。米国は、牛乳ビンや、洗車の時のバケツすら、自国で製造していません。それらは、東京の下町の工場から輸入しています。
国民皆保険制度ではないため、重い病気に罹患しても、入院もできません。日本では、３０００ドルで心臓手術は、受けられるが、米国では１０万ドル以上かかります。
新自由主義イデオロギーは、世界を豊かにしたどころか、不幸にしています。
オランダの学者のK・V・ウォルフレンは、１０年前、「アメリカだけを幸せにして、世界を不幸にする不条理なシステム」という本を日本で出版して、新自由主義を批判しました。私も彼が正しいと思います。また、エリック・シュローサー著「ファストフードが世界を食い尽くす」も、読んでみて下さい。
それに、中国などから安い工業製品を、未来永劫、買い続ける事が可能でしょうか？
中国人の人件費も上昇傾向にあり、元も上がるでしょう。
米国人は、アジアから国債を購入してもらうことにより、過剰消費を続けることを断念しなければならなくなるでしょう。

Briton cannot choose the hospital freely.

The hospitalization is not possible even if infected with a heavy disease because it is not the universal care. In Japan, the operation on the heart is taken for 3,000 dollars, but takes it more than 100,000 dollars in U.S.A.



Where the hell do you get this stuff from!!?:nuts:

National Health care in Britain is still very much free and the price of health care doesn't change, its only expensive as that if there is no national health care and no personal health insurance.

Britain's industry declined because most of it was no longer viable in the international market!
And so what if stuff like buckets are not produced in America itself, importing from somewhere like China or Japan is cheaper for the country! The labor theory of value dictates that both countries win out in the end. If in America it takes twice as much work to make a car than a truck, and if in Japan it takes 3 times as much work, Japan can sell cars at American prices in America and receive a truck for the equivalent of two cars, instead of the equivalent of three making it cheaper. Vice versa, when an American Truck is sold at Japaneses prices they can get three cars back. Both countries win out.

But there are many other influences on trade other than the price of labor.
In addition countries may have advantages in design of products, thus be able to export this to other countries that can use them to produce the actual goods. Industry isn't the be all and end all of national economies. Additionally, good very in quality and in their demand, various cars have various prices for example. Supply and demand eventually determines the most favorable import/export ratio for each country, barring there is not excessive effects from monopolization and tariffs.

To PresidentBjork
No, in the U.K., They cannot choose the hospital. They can use only one's local hospital living in or an appointed hospital. Reputation is the hospital which is not good, but must endure it.

In Japan, We can choose hospital of any place freely.
This is the miserable end of the neoliberalism.

Britain's industry declined because most of it was no longer viable in the international market!

There are a famous car maker and electrical maker in Germany and France or the Netherlands. There is not it in the U.K. Why is it?
They contribute to the employment.
In fact, finance and the IT do not contribute to the employment very much.

No, you can now choose which hospitals you wish to receive treatment in.

There is an issue with cleanliness in some hospitals, and I believe more cleaning staff should be hired.

However, the NHS is over maligned and has recovered significantly form the years of the 80s when it was starved of funds. The overall provision of health is very good, but you always hear of the rare horror stories instead of the general positive aspects thanks to the media.

To PresidentBjork

In fact, finance and the IT do not contribute to the employment very much.

Yes, they really do.

The Japanese are a very unilateral people, and I think they need to open themselves up to other cultures and nationalities before the true potential of the economy (yeah I said it) can actually be realized. I had a friend go to Osaka this past year and he really didn't enjoy it that much, because no one really wanted to speak english (even the tourist agencies) and he was looked down on as a westerner. I'm not saying this attitude is widespread, but it's this type of thing that will keep Japan from really taking off, which is hard to fathom, considering it's already one of the economic powerhouses of the world.

The Japanese are a very unilateral people, and I think they need to open themselves up to other cultures and nationalities before the true potential of the economy (yeah I said it) can actually be realized. I had a friend go to Osaka this past year and he really didn't enjoy it that much, because no one really wanted to speak english (even the tourist agencies) and he was looked down on as a westerner. I'm not saying this attitude is widespread, but it's this type of thing that will keep Japan from really taking off, which is hard to fathom, considering it's already one of the economic powerhouses of the world.

Japan is opening-like for the other culture. If the country of the information dispatch is U.S.A. most in the world, the receptive country will be Japan. But there is the still insufficient point. The Japanese Government should work hard to accept political refugees. In Hong Kong, it is refused the passenger an African person by a taxi. As for the Japanese of my friend, she was refused the ride of the taxi in the U.K.
There is not such a discrimination in Japan.

I am agreeable in the invitation of the foreign capital in consideration for stakeholder such as a worker, a customer, the community and manufacturing industry. It is hedge fund that I object.

Now, British hedge fund "children investment fund" buys up the stock of the Japanese electric power company and does an increased ration demand to the stockholder. The company should give priority to that lower a price than the increased ration to the stockholder.
There should be importance of a stockholder lowest.

I right think a city and the Wall Street to be cancer on the earth.

I had a friend go to Osaka this past year and he really didn't enjoy it that much, because no one really wanted to speak english (even the tourist agencies) and he was looked down on as a westerner.

Then I heard it, but did your friend study Japanese?
You should learn the Japanese daily life conversation if you come to Japan for a trip. He would misunderstand it not to be able to understand their words because he did not study Japanese when looked down.

I understand it from his remark. The Westerners never recognize world cultural variety. On the contrary, They invade it and are going to force sense of values.

Yearly income of CEO of American hedge fund is the 0.3billion dollar.
On the other hand, a salary needs a worker of 600 dollars in great numbers.
Japan and continent Europe get closer to economic system of a Jew and an Anglo-Saxon, too.
Judea style economy gives a reward to a successful person without any restriction.
A Jew lets the world split into heaven and hell.

It is Islam that preached peace for the first time in the world. It is Christianity that preached love to a neighbor. Therefore these two religion did the prosperity.
But the Judaism that God was cold-blooded did not capture a heart of people.
ost Jews occupy the inside of American media and finance company.

I objects It prepare Wall Street into Tokyo, and to let an Anglo-Saxon live in a high-quality apartment of rent 30,000 dollars.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The times of social democracy come over by all means.

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Mansion-cho of Beverly-hills.
http://holiday.knt.co.jp/img/3USALAXD0002.jpg

A slum of Bronx.
http://coolsummer.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/178083932_4de909e771.jpg

This is the miserable end of the neoliberalism of the Jew and Anglo-Saxon style.:ohno:

To PresidentBjork
No, in the U.K., They cannot choose the hospital. They can use only one's local hospital living in or an appointed hospital. Reputation is the hospital which is not good, but must endure it.

In Japan, We can choose hospital of any place freely.
This is the miserable end of the neoliberalism.

:wtf: The British NHS is by no means a neoliberal institution, it is a socialist, universal access, government funded and controlled system. The NHS is the rejection of neoliberal market forces, not the result.

The Japanese health system is far more neo-liberal than that in the UK and better for it.

In fact the UK also spends more on social security than Japan and has a higher % of GDP taken by taxation so i'm not sure why you are using it as an example of the ultra-capitalism that you clearly don't like.

Also, your anti-semitic and racist comment are not appreciated.

wtf is goin on here..the antisemitism is appalling

Why go to another country and not try to speak the local language? No one wanted to speak English in Osaka? Most Osakans are unable to speak English. The arrogance of some English speakers is amazing. They expect everyone in the rest of the world to be able to speak in English. Sorry many people cannot. Japan is not an English speaking country. Japanese do not visit the West and expect Westerners to speak in Japanese.

:wtf: The British NHS is by no means a neoliberal institution, it is a socialist, universal access, government funded and controlled system. The NHS is the rejection of neoliberal market forces, not the result.The Japanese health system is far more neo-liberal than that in the UK and better for it.In fact the UK also spends more on social security than Japan and has a higher % of GDP taken by taxation so i'm not sure why you are using it as an example of the ultra-capitalism that you clearly don't like.Also, your anti-semitic and racist comment are not appreciated.

No, Japanese income tax rate is the middle among G7.
It is only U.S.A., U.K., Canada that income tax and a corporation tax is low from Japan. But Japan is low from Germany, France, Italy.
It is a fact in the U.K. that Briton can't choose a hospital.
It pointed out a fact.


Neoliberalism → Classical economics group → Social democracy {group}

{U.S.A, Hong Kong, U.K.} → {Australia, Canada} → {Japan, Italy, France, Germany} → {Central Europe} → {North Europe}　　

wtf is goin on here..the antisemitism is appalling

I am not anti-Semitism.
But I think that the Israeli aggressiveness is caused by a doctrine of the Judaism. please read you and compare the Bible of Christianity and Islam and Judaism.
Jew occupies the most in both as for the hedge fund and the American media and the ideologue of the neoliberalism.
It has a connection with the Chinese connection.

Neoliberalism → Classical economics group → Social democracy {group}

{U.S.A, Hong Kong, U.K.} → {Australia, Canada} → {Japan, Italy, France, Germany} → {Central Europe} → {North Europe}　　

Neat system, shame it doesn't correspond with reality.

http://www.oecd.org/vgn/images/portal/cit_731/13/32/34995323FRA_fig3_E.gif

Neat system, shame it doesn't correspond with reality.http://www.oecd.org/vgn/images/portal/cit_731/13/32/34995323FRA_fig3_E.gif

It is your forgery. :ohno:
Japan is nearer to Social democracy than U.S.A. and the U.K. :)
The report to make of the OECD is made in favor of Europe.:ohno:
The list overlooks that there are special accounts other than a general account (national budget) in Japan.
Probably the GDP ratio of the social security budget is top-level if I include special accounts.:)


In Japan, an ideology of the principle of stockholder supremacy does not infiltrate Britain and the United States. In addition, there are very few rewards of a business executive from Britain and the United States company, too.:)
The economic system of Britain and the United States style respects only the profit of the stockholder. In addition, they consider a worker to be a disposable tool. The British and American company pursues only short-term profit.
They withdraw immediately if They understand that They do not make a profit.
There is the reason why the U.K. fell to the pure import country of the industrial product for there.
Japan and France and Germany are totally different.


In fact, it is this.
Neoliberalism → Classical economics group → Social democracy {group}

{U.S.A, Hong Kong, U.K.} → {Australia, Canada} → {Japan, Italy, France, Germany} → {Central Europe} → {North Europe}

　

This is the miserable end of the neoliberalism of the Jew and Anglo-Saxon style.:ohno:

This guy reminds me of Borat...

The Japanese are a very unilateral people, and I think they need to open themselves up to other cultures and nationalities before the true potential of the economy (yeah I said it) can actually be realized. I had a friend go to Osaka this past year and he really didn't enjoy it that much, because no one really wanted to speak english (even the tourist agencies) and he was looked down on as a westerner. I'm not saying this attitude is widespread, but it's this type of thing that will keep Japan from really taking off, which is hard to fathom, considering it's already one of the economic powerhouses of the world.

I've been to Osaka, I'm a westerner and I wasn't looked down upon... Then again, I've also attempted to speak to the people their in their own language. And as mentioned, the reason why no one really wanted to speak English is because they just couldn't speak it very well (if at all).

It is your forgery. :ohno:

:rofl: Is that the best argument you can come up with?

There is the reason why the U.K. fell to the pure import country of the industrial product for there.
Japan and France and Germany are totally different.

France and Italy also have a small trade deficit, does this make these countries neo-liberal?. The UK has a much smaller trade deficit compared to GDP than the USA, Spain, Australia, Greece etc and we are still in the top 10 world exporters with only 4% less exports than France, is that really such a huge difference?? We actually export more per capita than Japan.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html

In fact, it is this.
Neoliberalism → Classical economics group → Social democracy {group}

{U.S.A, Hong Kong, U.K.} → {Australia, Canada} → {Japan, Italy, France, Germany} → {Central Europe} → {North Europe}

You repeat it but you have no evidence, the UK spends more on social security and social protection than Italy (is that a sign of neo-liberalism?), we have a state funded and controlled universal healthcare system (not at all neo-liberal) and over 40% of GDP is taken in taxation (much closer to the continental European Social Democracies than to neo-liberal ideas).

p-s-30: Taxes and Spending in relation to GDP are lower in Japan almost any other first world nation. But it is true Japan is not a neo-liberal nation. The government does not intervene in Japan the same way that that governments intervene in Europe. Japan regulates heavily (much less now than before the Hashimoto and Koizumi prime ministerships), but taxes lightly. Regulation and culture (Japanese CEOs do not award themselves huge pay packages) reduce social inequality in Japan, while regulation and heavy taxation are used to reduce social inequality in Europe.

The list overlooks that there are special accounts other than a general account (national budget) in Japan.
Probably the GDP ratio of the social security budget is top-level if I include special accounts.:)

Comparison with evil neo-liberal UK

Japan

http://www.ipss.go.jp/images/logo_en.gif

Social Security Expenditure as a percentage of National Income
2004

23.72%

UK

25.9% of GDP spent on social security in 2003

www.nom-nos.dk/Nosbook/Chapter%2010.pdf

But it is true Japan is not a neo-liberal nation. The government does not intervene in Japan the same way that that governments intervene in Europe. Japan regulates heavily (much less now than before the Hashimoto and Koizumi prime ministerships), but taxes lightly. Regulation and culture (Japanese CEOs do not award themselves huge pay packages) reduce social inequality in Japan, while regulation and heavy taxation are used to reduce social inequality in Europe.

The part is right.:)
The best tax rate of the Japanese income tax.
1979 : 85%
1989 : 70% 　
2006 : 50%

effectiveness corporation tax rate: 42.39%.
(breakdown).
Corporation tax rate : 30%.
Juridical person enterprise tax : 7.2%.
Corporate residence tax : 5.19%.


Jonesy55
You are lacking in study.
Please study Japanese special accounts more.
The GDP ratio of the social security budget of the Japanese wide sense increases more.
The U.K. is not a developed nation. U.K. is the same as U.S.A., and it is a country in the middle position of the developed nation and underdeveloped country.

With the Anglo-Saxon of the dog of the neoliberalism, the normal discussion is impossibility.

Japan
Social Security Expenditure as a percentage of National Income
2004 : 23.72%

It become about 45% when I include special accounts in it.
The juridical person tax rate is higher than the U.K., too.

Jonesy55

Can you talk with me in Japanese?

A more exact dispute is possible if Japanese.

It become about 45% when I include special accounts in it.
The juridical person tax rate is higher than the U.K., too.

So why doesn't the Japanese National Institute of Population and Social Security Research include these 'special accounts' in its calculations?

45% would be way higher than even the next highest countries like Sweden (32.3% in 2004)

And how could the Japanese government afford to spend 45% of GDP on social security if it only receives less than 30% of GDP in taxation? It doesn't seem to make sense.

The U.K. is not a developed nation. U.K. is the same as U.S.A., and it is a country in the middle position of the developed nation and underdeveloped country.

With the Anglo-Saxon of the dog of the neoliberalism, the normal discussion is impossibility.

Now you are just being silly :ohno:

HDI

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/HDImap_spectrum2006.png/800px-HDImap_spectrum2006.png

Can you talk with me in Japanese?

A more exact dispute is possible if Japanese.

遺憾私は日本語を話さない.

私は学ぶことを望む

Regardless of the exact Japanese position you can surely see that the UK is much closer to France, Germany, Japan, and Italy etc than it is to USA, Ireland or HK. We have much higher taxation than these countries, much more social security and more government funded healthcare.

In some ways the UK may follow 'neo-liberal' economic policies but in many areas we certainly do not. Any personal income over approximately £40,000 per year ($80,000 円9,750,000), is taxed at 41%.

Corporation tax is not particularly low in the UK either.

UK - 28%
Japan - 30%
USA - 15-35%
France 33.333%
Germany - 25%
Italy - 37.25%
HK - 17.5%
Ireland - 12.5%
UAE - 0%
Switzerland - 13-25%
Sweden - 28%
Spain - 35%
South Korea - 13-25%
Taiwan - 25%
Singapore - 18%
Netherlands - 20-25.5%
Norway - 28%

So why doesn't the Japanese National Institute of Population and Social Security Research include these 'special accounts' in its calculations?
45% would be way higher than even the next highest countries like Sweden (32.3% in 2004)
And how could the Japanese government afford to spend 45% of GDP on social security if it only receives less than 30% of GDP in taxation? It doesn't seem to make sense.

Japanese Government appropriates a social security budget from national budget (about 800 dolion dollars) with principle.
However, there is another national budget in Japan.
It is called special accounts.

I do not grasp the total sum of special accounts even in the government.
However, it is said more than 20000 billion dollars.
Of course this is the cause for a deficit. The government is going to get rid of these special accounts now.

But it is a fact that improved life of people.

Of course if I spend more money than I receive, in the short term I can live very well but in the long term, the money must be repaid and this is very bad, no?

Regardless of the exact Japanese position you can surely see that the UK is much closer to France, Germany, Japan, and Italy etc than it is to USA, Ireland or HK. We have much higher taxation than these countries, much more social security and more government funded healthcare.

In some ways the UK may follow 'neo-liberal' economic policies but in many areas we certainly do not. Any personal income over approximately £40,000 per year ($80,000 円9,750,000), is taxed at 41%.

Corporation tax is not particularly low in the UK either.

UK - 28%
Japan - 30%
USA - 15-35%
France 33.333%
Germany - 25%
Italy - 37.25%
HK - 17.5%
Ireland - 12.5%
UAE - 0%
Switzerland - 13-25%
Sweden - 28%
Spain - 35%
South Korea - 13-25%
Taiwan - 25%
Singapore - 18%
Netherlands - 20-25.5%
Norway - 28%

When it is only a national tax, it is 30%.
However, when it includes a district corporation tax, it is 42.39%.

Japan
The effectiveness corporation tax rate: 42.39%.
(breakdown).
Corporation tax rate : 30%.
Juridical person enterprise tax : 7.2%.
Corporate residence tax : 5.19%.


In the U.K., a jaguar is going to be sold to China, too.
Burberry moved to China, too.

If a Chinese bubble collapses, British economy will fail.

It is a mistake to call in hedge fund to Tokyo.

The yearly income of the manager of the Japanese big business is 250,000 dollars from 150,000 dollars.
It was the bad influence of the Anglo-Saxon, and the people who received it increased by 2 million dollars.

This breaks social balance and lets crimes increase.
In the U.K., hope of children was lost by educational reform of Thatcher.

It is a mistake to call in hedge fund in Tokyo.

The yearly income of the manager of the Japanese big business is 300,000 dollars from 200,000 dollars.
It was the bad influence of the Anglo-Saxon, and the people who received it increased by 2 million dollars.

This breaks social balance and lets crimes increase.
In the U.K., hope of children was lost by educational reform of Thatcher.

I agree that it would be better if there was less gap between rich and poor but I don't see society failing here any more than in France for example.

Thatcher left power nearly two decades ago, there has been much change since then, the education system is pretty good here.

And in any case you exaggerate, I went to school mostly during the Thatcher years (81-94) and I turned out ok, I haven't lost hope yet! :lol:

In Japan, neoliberalism reform was carried out in the times of Nakasone Administration (80's).
A state railroad, a state phone company, a state cigarette company were privatized. It was the reform that linked Reagan and Thatcher.
And a post office was privatized two years ago.
It was able to be so good.
I do not deny neoliberalism reform overall.
But an evil became big now.

A director reward.

Toyota (In 2007, Toyota overtake GM, and sale number becomes the number one in the world.)
33 average
$ 618,300

Nissan.
Carlos. Ghosn.
$6,000,000
8 average
$1,867,000.

Ford (2006 minus balance : $1270 million, PAG groups : $2,320 million)
CEO
$16,500,000.
Amount of talent scout $20,000,000

Home deposit
CEO (The retirement bonus)
$210 million

Wal-Mart
CEO
$30 million dollars

An officer reward of great deficit Ford is 26 times of Toyota.
Carlos Ghosn of NISSAN that management dull gets 10 times reward of Toyota.
This is economic system of Judea Anglo-Saxon style.

TIMSS-R
Mathematics comparison(1999)
1.Singaporean
2.S.Korea
3.Taiwan
4.Hong Kong
5.Japan
6.Belgium

19. U.S.A.
20. U.K.
http://www.nier.go.jp/homepage/kyoutsuu/kyoutsu2/sympo23.pdf

I hope the best for Tokyo. To me, it deserves more importance than other cities. I hope that the new skyline is empowering.

Boost for Tokyo bourse as Chinese firm soars on debut

TOKYO, Aug 8, 2007 (AFP) - Shares in the first mainland Chinese company to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main section got off to a flying start Wednesday, boosting the bourse's hopes of attracting more foreign firms.

China Boqi Environment Solution Technology (Holding) Co. drew strong investor interest at its debut, ending the first day of trading at 258,000 yen, 61 percent higher than the initial offering price of 160,000 yen.

The TSE has been struggling to attract foreign firms, particularly after a string of technical problems, hindering its efforts to compete with overseas rivals seeking to become Asia's pre-eminent bourse.

Only 25 foreign companies are now listed on TSE, mostly from the United States and Europe, compared with a peak of 127 in 1991.

"As the Tokyo Stock Exchange is trying to boost its position as Asia's core bourse, we want to invite more Chinese companies," said TSE spokesman Toru Onoda.

China Boqi, which is officially registered in the Cayman Islands tax haven, engages in designing, building and installing environmental equipment, including desulphurisation devices used at coal-fired power plants.

"Environmental protection is a big task as the Chinese economy grows. The government is set to require stricter measures. It will be a big business opportunity for China Boqi," chief executive Bai Yunfeng told reporters.

The 32-year-old executive said the group also wanted to advance into carbon emissions trading, garbage disposal in urban areas and projects to convert sea water into fresh water.

The group, which has acquired environmental technology from top Japanese companies Chiyoda and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, is the first foreign company to list its shares only on the Tokyo bourse.

China Boqi chose Tokyo because of the group's ties with Japan as well as the Tokyo bourse's long history and large scale, Bai said.

"We are also opening a channel through which we will communicate and make technical exchanges with Japanese companies that have high technology," he said, adding the group had no plan to list elsewhere at the moment.

China Boqi raised some 800 million yuan (105.6 million dollars) from the share offering in Japan after paying commissions, according to chief finance officer Tien Chau.

As concerns about global warming grow, environment-related stocks are becoming increasingly popular among investors, noted Nikko Cordial Securities broker Hiroichi Nishi.

"Institutional investors and investment trusts are actively buying environmental shares for their portfolios," he said.

Bai noted the flotation came exactly one year ahead of the Beijing Olympics, saying the group wanted to help "hold a green Olympics."

In an effort to expand its global reach, the TSE has been stepping up global alliances, linking up with the New York, London and Singapore exchanges.

The TSE has had a difficult time of late. It suffered its worst-ever system crash in November 2005. The following January it closed early for the first time ever after a scandal at Internet firm Livedoor sparked a wave of selling.

TSE deal advances Tokyo as Asian hub
Start-ups market set with London bourse; drilling for listings
31 October 2007
The Wall Street Journal Asia

TOKYO -- Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc. and London Stock Exchange Group PLC have agreed to establish a market for Japanese and Asian start-up companies, a development highlighting Tokyo's efforts to become a financial center for the region.

The proposed market, to be modeled on London's Alternative Investment Market for young companies, is expected to begin operating by the end of next year, said Atsushi Saito, the Tokyo exchange's chief executive. Not yet named, it will be headquartered in Tokyo but will run as a joint venture, he added. The Tokyo and London exchanges signed a cooperation agreement in February.

The Japanese government, worried about shrinking employment in the manufacturing sector, is trying to promote Tokyo as a financial center in hopes of generating lucrative jobs. The new market would also help meet the needs of Japanese investors, who increasingly are looking for returns greater than the near-zero yields on their bank accounts, and those of fast-growing Asian companies, many of which are looking for capital to fuel their expansion.

Though Tokyo has great potential, a combination of opaque regulations and high taxes have kept it from growing as an international market, according to critics. High costs also have been cited. For example, listing fees on the Tokyo exchange, known as the TSE, are among the highest of major stock markets.

Several high-level panels have looked at ways to increase Japan's appeal as a financial center. Government officials have publicly stated that raising the country's presence as a market is a high priority, though few concrete actions have been taken.

Establishing the new stock market would also help the TSE's reputation, tarnished several years ago by technology glitches. Despite much preparation for an initial public offering of its shares, the TSE remains privately held, owned by the brokerages and banks that trade through it.

The lack of publicly traded shares has left TSE lagging behind listed global exchanges, which are increasingly buying each other to create economies of scale. Earlier this year, the TSE bought a stake of nearly 5% in Singapore Exchange Ltd., the listed company that runs Singapore's stock market.

Whether the new market will enhance Tokyo's appeal as a place for Asian companies to raise funds remains an open question. Despite a charm offensive concentrated on China and South Korea, the TSE has had limited success attracting foreign companies. Just five have listed in Japan during the past four years. Meanwhile, many listed companies are leaving: The number of overseas companies on the TSE is now 25, down from 127 in 1991. They mainly said they found the costs of being listed in Tokyo outweighed the benefits.

"They keep drilling on this aspect," Neil Katkov, an analyst at Celent LLC, a financial-industry consultant, said about the TSE's efforts to attract more foreign companies. "But nothing's really panned out."

In all, the TSE has added just 34 companies this year, according to data tracker Thomson Financial, compared with the Nasdaq Stock Market's 197 and the London Stock Exchange's 184. Tokyo's much smaller regional competitors in Hong Kong and Singapore have added 63 and 46, respectively.

Mr. Saito said the new market would seek to improve Tokyo's attractiveness, and would limit trading participation to qualified professionals, such as pension plans and mutual funds. One idea under consideration is to allow companies listing on the new board to file application and disclosure documents in English, eliminating the cost of having it translated into Japanese. Mr. Saito said the new market might also apply looser listing standards than other parts of the TSE.

Tokyo bourse to aim to start listing ETFs in March

TOKYO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The Tokyo Stock Exchange [TSE.UL] aims to begin listing commodities-linked exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by March, the head of the exchange said on Tuesday.

TSE President and Chief Executive Atsushi Saito told a news conference these ETFs could be backed by commodities such as crude oil or gold.

"We will start to take steps to introduce the new system from March," Saito said.

The TSE revised its listing rules in November, paving the way for the listing of such ETFs.

ETFs are like investment trusts that track indexes but trade on exchanges in the same way as individual stocks.

Gold-backed ETFs, which are listed on exchanges in New York, London and Singapore, have helped attract retail and institutional investors to the bullion market, helping to broaden the market base.

"This means that I think we will be able to provide quite a few ETFs from the spring," Saito said.

The Osaka Securities Exchange , Japan's No. 2 bourse, last year launched Japan's first gold price-linked ETF.

However, this tracks a yen-based gold price index and is not backed by bullion.

The Japanese unit of Axa Investment Managers said this month that it plans to list its ETF tracking the S&P GSCI index <.SPGSCITR>, the world's most popular commodity index, on the Tokyo bourse by the end of March.

Separately, Saito said on Tuesday that he did not expect Japan's stock market to remain weak for long.

There are some Japanese economic figures indicating future weakness, but they are not as worrying as those of some other countries, he said.

Japan needs robust finance industry -new FSA boss

TOKYO, July 14 (Reuters) - Japan needs a more robust financial services industry to help boost the world's second-largest economy, the new head of the financial regulator said on Tuesday.

Katsunori Mikuniya, a 58-year-old veteran bureaucrat with a reputation for expertise in capital markets, also said he would work to improve Tokyo's standing as a global financial centre.

"The population is set to age and shrink further," Mikuniya said at his first news conference as commissioner of the Financial Services Agency (FSA).

"A virtuous circle needs to be in place between the role of the financial sector in supporting the real economy and finance as a viable industry."

Mikuniya, previously head of the FSA's supervisory division, replaces Takafumi Sato, who served in the position for two years.

He takes the helm of the regulator as Japanese financial firms grapple with a sliding domestic economy and hefty losses.

Japan's top three banks lost a total of 1.2 trillion yen in the year to March, hit by rising bad loan costs and a sharp fall in their stock portfolios.

"The economy is in bad shape right now and the markets may not recover unless someone carries out reform," said Seishi Ikeda, a lawyer specialising in capital markets at Baker & McKenzie in Tokyo. "I would expect Mr. Mikuniya to work on steps that would help invigorate the markets."

TOKYO CALLING

The FSA is also desperate to improve Tokyo's position as a financial centre, which has been overshadowed in recent years by Hong Kong and Singapore, which boast lower taxes and lighter regulation.

As of 2005, financial services made up just 7 percent of Japan's economy, compared with more than 12 percent in Hong Kong and more than 10 percent in Singapore, according to FSA data.

Under Sato's watch, the FSA rolled out a plan to win back foreign firms by removing the firewalls between banks and brokerages, rejigging tax laws for foreign funds and allowing a market for professional investors.

The Oxford-educated Sato also gave frequent interviews to the foreign media and regularly addressed foreign bankers in the hopes of improving Japan's image in global finance.

It is unclear whether or not Mikuniya will be as foreigner friendly, although he is said to have a strong background in capital markets. In a 2006 interview with the Nikkei daily, he stressed the need for flexibility in applying rules.

Western banks are increasingly trimming their Tokyo operations. HSBC, Europe's largest bank, in April shut its Japanese equity research and trading businesses as part of a global staff reduction.

Separately, Kyodo News said the FSA had decided to extend a temporary freeze on short-selling. Mikuniya told the news conference that nothing had been decided.