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country in which the wealthy have steadily increased their wealth to become super
wealthy. The annual income of top management at large listed companies, in terms
of multiples of the average income of the employees of said companies, had been
about 40 times the average employee’s income until about 30 years ago, but has
climbed to 400 times over these past 30 years.
In Japan, it is not the case that the top earners in society are steadily becoming
super wealthy; however, social disparity has widened. The problem in Japan is that
the whole country’s economy suddenly toppled. In other words, it is not that the
economy bred a group of winners and a group of losers, but to put it in somewhat
exaggerated terms, everyone in Japan became a loser. I think that the average to
mid-level incomes have fallen sharply. That is to say, at the lower end of the income
spectrum, particularly in the middle class, incomes have fallen.
Komiyama In addition, is it that there has not been a rise in income for the upper
end of the income spectrum?
Yoshikawa In exaggerated terms, yes. And it is always the strata with a lower level
of income that bears the burden in such situations. To speak about it abstractly, there
is the problem of regular/non-regular employees, as you know. Thirty years ago,
non-regular employees are said to have accounted for about 16% of the workforce,
whereas today that figure has reached about 40%.
Komiyama Some sources report that it has exceeded 40%.
Yoshikawa In addition, with regard to Japan, it’s well known that disparity is a
particularly large problem with respect to the aging population. That is to say, if you
took a sample group of one million people in their 20s, there would be differences
in income, assets, health, etc., but they wouldn’t vary widely. On the other hand, if
you took a sample group of one million people in their 70s, there would be a huge
degree of variance. With an aging population, the proportion of people that are
elderly increases across society; accordingly, it’s natural that there will be a correspondingly wider degree of variance across society and the economy as a whole.
Expansion in Social Security Costs Must Be Covered by the Consumption
Tax
Yoshikawa The system that to some degree ameliorates the problem of disparity
across society is the social security system. It’s based on the idea that the state
should be held responsible to narrow the disparity with regard to problems such as
pension, health insurance, and nursing care systems, where the disparity will widen
too much if neglected.
Here, the question is raised as to how to finance those systems. At present, social
security benefits amount to about 110 trillion yen. Sixty percent of that is covered
by health insurance fees. If 100 is used to represent the total expenditures on social
security benefits, as you know, health insurance fees are borne in equal shares by the
Interview
country in which the wealthy have steadily increased their wealth to become super
wealthy. The annual income of top management at large listed companies, in terms
of multiples of the average income of the employees of said companies, had been
about 40 times the average employee’s income until about 30 years ago, but has
climbed to 400 times over these past 30 years.
In Japan, it is not the case that the top earners in society are steadily becoming
super wealthy; however, social disparity has widened. The problem in Japan is that
the whole country’s economy suddenly toppled. In other words, it is not that the
economy bred a group of winners and a group of losers, but to put it in somewhat
exaggerated terms, everyone in Japan became a loser. I think that the average to
mid-level incomes have fallen sharply. That is to say, at the lower end of the income
spectrum, particularly in the middle class, incomes have fallen.
Komiyama In addition, is it that there has not been a rise in income for the upper
end of the income spectrum?
Yoshikawa In exaggerated terms, yes. And it is always the strata with a lower level
of income that bears the burden in such situations. To speak about it abstractly, there
is the problem of regular/non-regular employees, as you know. Thirty years ago,
non-regular employees are said to have accounted for about 16% of the workforce,
whereas today that figure has reached about 40%.
Komiyama Some sources report that it has exceeded 40%.
Yoshikawa In addition, with regard to Japan, it’s well known that disparity is a
particularly large problem with respect to the aging population. That is to say, if you
took a sample group of one million people in their 20s, there would be differences
in income, assets, health, etc., but they wouldn’t vary widely. On the other hand, if
you took a sample group of one million people in their 70s, there would be a huge
degree of variance. With an aging population, the proportion of people that are
elderly increases across society; accordingly, it’s natural that there will be a correspondingly wider degree of variance across society and the economy as a whole.
Expansion in Social Security Costs Must Be Covered by the Consumption
Tax
Yoshikawa The system that to some degree ameliorates the problem of disparity
across society is the social security system. It’s based on the idea that the state
should be held responsible to narrow the disparity with regard to problems such as
pension, health insurance, and nursing care systems, where the disparity will widen
too much if neglected.
Here, the question is raised as to how to finance those systems. At present, social
security benefits amount to about 110 trillion yen. Sixty percent of that is covered
by health insurance fees. If 100 is used to represent the total expenditures on social
security benefits, as you know, health insurance fees are borne in equal shares by the
Interview