Economics
Wages Shape Up as Key to Abenomics and the Future of Abe Himself
- Slump in approval prompts pledge to focus on the economy
- Lifting wage growth seen as vital to meeting nation’s goals
Shinzo Abe responds to questions during the Lower House Budget Committee in Tokyo, Japan, on July 24, 2017.
Photographer: The Asahi Shimbun via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
To shore up his ailing premiership, Shinzo Abe is vowing to focus on the economy. But instead of unleashing yet more stimulus, analysts say Abe needs to take a hammer to an old chestnut: moribund wage growth.
Facilitating salary increases would boost household income, and for Abe, help convince an increasingly skeptical electorate that his eponymous economic policies are working for them. The problem is, employers remain reluctant to boost pay despite record-low unemployment and bumper profits.