WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION COUNCIL

Oct. 16, 2021

Pressing on with his campaign promise of redistributing wealth and reducing inequality, Japan’s new prime minister Fumio Kishida unveiled a flagship council, which will be responsible for strategizing how to tackle wealth disparities and redistribute wealth to households.

About:

  • The panel, headed by Kishida, will comprise a mix of ministers and representatives from the private sector.

  • The panel is expected to hold its first meeting on October 26.

  • The panel will focus on the creation of a “virtuous cycle of growth and distribution” of wealth, which was also the pillar of his election campaign.

  • In his campaign for the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election, Kishida proposed income redistribution to rebuild a broader middle class. This can be accomplished, he said, through an updated version of the 1960 “income-doubling plan” behind Japan’s rise as an economic power.

  • One of the main focuses of the panel’s discussions will be post-covid economic recovery.