It snowed the other night! Soft icy flakes falling from the sky. Coming from the Philippines, it's always a treat to see a snowfall. :) It started at around late afternoon and continued through the night, but there wasn't enough snow to turn the place white like way back in 2005 (the last time I saw snow). Instead, it just left patches of white on roofs, backyards, and hills. It was nonetheless a welcome sight. I remember walking in the night, "through" the snow, under my umbrella, and imagining myself just adrift the luminous fluff. >) The thought made me smile.
Today, I learned the Japanese government is giving out 12,000 yen to each person here in Japan as part of its economic stimulus package. Registered foreigners (like me!) also gets the treat. 12,000 Yen is admittedly not really that much, and I initially thought it was such a huge waste to just disburse money to people. Then, after some thinking, I realized it is probably a good way of injecting money into the market. Most people would think it's better if the government directly injected the money into several industries. That would probably work - if the government knew which industries truly benefited most people, that is. So they're putting the money into people's hands and letting them decide. I'd guess it's a way of letting the free market economy work. :)
Now, I just hope people spend them wisely (or at least just spend them and let the money circulate!). After all, if, say, each person on average spends 50% of the handout money on beer and karaoke, it would be as if the government just injected 50% of the investment directly into the beer and karaoke industry! (Goodness! But I'm guessing that's not so far-fetched.) :P So will the "economic stimulus" work? The world will know soon enough. As for me, I'm thinking of a new pair of Panasonic earphones (I just got one this week, but I want those orange ones too), a couple more books and/or figurines, and one or two bowls of quality ramen. :D
Btw, I think it was a neat idea to give more money (20,000 yen) to those under 18 and greater than 65. I think that's definitely more efficient than having people declare dependents - it's after all easier to verify heads than to double check duplicate declarations. And as an added bonus, the children will claim the money is theirs and they should be entitled to spend them (further ensuring that the money gets circulated). Hehehe. Nice. :)
1 comment:
Wow it's still snowing there?!? Cool! XD Lucky you. Manila's really hot right now, and it's not even April! >_<
I see Japan's really feeling the crunch too. The stimulus package might work there, but if you did something like that here in the Philippines most people would probably just use it for gambling. :P Besides, even if there's an economic crisis, Filipinos still flock the department stores whenever there's a sale. And people wonder if the Philippines is really a poor country. :|
I'll be sending you an email soon. I've been meaning to do that a week ago, but I had to put it off because of school and work.
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