Japan is about to get a new government and it's just like old times. Liberal Democratic Party leader Shinzo Abe, who is set to become prime minister, again sounds as if he has been spending his time out of office back in the 1960s.
Growth is everything and growth shall be achieved through big spending programs by the government. A cheap yen is essential for export-led Japan and shall be realized through big monetary expansion by the central bank. People should look after themselves and should not expect to be coddled by the state. Rip van Winkle walks among us once more.
Yet he is a Winkle with a difference. Abe 2.0 sounds a great deal more unilateralist and pugnacious than the last version. He has always been active in the realm of foreign policy, of course. But this time round, his aggressiveness seems to have seeped into his economic management.