Japan: What a difference a day makes





Today is May 1, and Japan's gasoline prices just shot up by 34 Yen, as the government reinstated its "temporary" taxes, that have been in place since the 1970s.

Some 5,000 road construction projects can now resume (in addition to free taxi trips for certain government officials, and massage chairs, and other perks).

Other bloggers have gone to great length to explain the politics behind it, especially Shisaku and Ampontan.

An Asahi Shimbun survey found 63 percent of the respondents opposing the legislative action to restore the taxes, while 58 percent said they supported the idea of shifting the road-financing taxes into the general revenue pot, rather than just construction projects. Well, as much as I support higher taxes on gasoline, clearly it is time for Japan's government to make sure that the revenue goes to environmental and welfare projects to an increasing degree, rather than huge highways in the countryside. An environmental tax would also be more in line with current thinking with regards to Peak Oil, and the global food crisis, and efforts to curb climate change...

Comments

Pandabonium said…
Hear, hear! Both parties got it wrong on this one. The tax should remain, but the money should be leading us away from automobiles.
6:03 pm, May 01, 2008
Martin J Frid said…
I wish the G8 Summit this summer would have that at the top of its agenda.

How refreshing it would be if a head-of-state would actually say, oupps, our current (car-based) way of life is not sustainable, lets do something about it.
6:44 pm, May 01, 2008
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