Three guesses on who said the following.
"A tax upon the necessaries of life operates exactly in the same manner as a direct tax upon the wages of labor. . . . Any rise in the average price of necessaries, unless it is compensated by a proportionate rise in the wages of labor, must necessarily diminish more or less the ability of the poor to bring up numerous families, and consequently to supply the demand for useful labor."
Was it an academic invited to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's great "Let's hear from the people" show on the advisability of hiking the consumption tax? A representative of the trade unions? A concerned citizen campaigning for the rights of the worker?