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发表于 2012-2-24 20:37:32
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VOX POPULI: Lawmakers need to share burden
After 13 hours of intense all-night discussions, an exhausted European Union official spoke with reporters at a news conference at dawn.
"I have learned that marathon is indeed a Greek word," the official told the assembled media.
The EU had just decided on a 14-trillion-yen ($174.286 billion) bailout package for Greece. The rise and fall of Greece and success and failure of the integration of the euro zone are two sides of the same coin.
The designs of the obverse side of euro coins differ by country. For example, the denomination of 1 euro coins for Germany has the German eagle, its national symbol. The Greek 1 euro has an owl, which was engraved on an ancient Greek silver coin. The EU is making a desperate attempt to treat the eagle and the owl equally.
When it comes to scrambling for money to make ends meet, Japan is no better off. The government will issue bonds for personal investors to support reconstruction of areas hit by last year's Great East Japan Earthquake. Although the interest rates are low, if buyers keep them for three years, they will be given a commemorative 10,000-yen gold coin for every 10 million yen's worth of reconstruction bonds and a 1,000-yen silver coin for every 1 million yen's worth.
Both the gold and silver coins bear the design of the "miracle pine," the lone tree that survived the tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture.
The obverse side of the gold coin shows a map of eastern Japan and doves. The silver coin depicts a fishing boat and an ear of rice. The gift of commemorative coins seems like an attempt to cash in on the growing sense of solidarity among citizens. After all, prospects for an increase in tax revenues remain dim and the government has no choice but to borrow money from the people.
Apparently, the government wants to use everything it can lay its hands on and is trying to reach for "dormant bank accounts." When a bank account has no activity for five years, the account holder loses his or her claim. Every year, the value of accounts that have remained dormant for 10 years amounts to tens of billions of yen. If banks are going to keep the money, why not return it to society? That is the logic behind the idea.
The pine may be happy to be of use one more time, and money in sleeping accounts may awaken, but the government must not count on the pockets of citizens alone. It must make an effort to come up with money on its own. Although the salaries of members of the Self-Defense Forces, who were engaged in rescue work, are being cut, the cost of maintaining Diet members are not.
The government needs to get its act together and do things in the right order for a change.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 23 |
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