Just as doubts grow over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies dubbed Abenomics, many say that regulatory reforms will be the only way to revive Japan's economy. However, a sense of disappointment is already spreading in many quarters over a new government panel launched in September under Abe's initiative to promote such reforms.
Abe has long vowed to destroy what he calls "bedrock regulations." Such a pledge may raise some hopes if it signals that Abe really means a departure from his heavy dependence on Bank of Japan's monetary easing to shore up share prices. But a quick look at the names of 14 members of the panel gives rise to skepticism that Abe is merely seeking to keep the stock market afloat by feigning an image of his administration willing to tackle regulatory reforms — and that he has no resolve at all to fight the rigid government regulations.
After returning to power in 2012 with his Liberal Democratic Party's victory in the 2012 election, Abe proceeded to create one advisory panel of experts to the government after another at the initiative of his Cabinet secretariat. One of them was the predecessor to the new regulatory reform panel launched last month.