Not satisfied with bending Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to its will for a snap election, the Liberal Democratic Party has set its sights on Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa, at No. 36 the highest-ranked Japanese on Forbes magazine's 2011 list of the world's most powerful people. (Noda was ranked 62nd.)
In a lecture last week in Kumamoto Prefecture, LDP President Shinzo Abe declared the party "would like someone (as BOJ governor) who will agree with our inflation target" of 2 to 3 percent, in a slap at Shirakawa, who has been reluctant to implement monetary easing "without limit," as the LDP wishes, to end chronic deflation.
Japan's extended economic slump may call for extreme measures, but some are questioning Abe's monetary and fiscal proposals.