A Tax Revolt in Japan,And a Bond Bubble Too

摘要

About 200 housewives marched down a shopping street in central Tokyo, beating pans with ladles and shouting slogans criticizing a government plan to double Japan's 5 percent consumption tax. "Ordinary people like us have a limited amount of money we can spend each month," says Natsuyo Makabe, a protester who took part in three demonstrations in June against the tax hike as well as nuclear energy and a free-trade pact. "Ninety-nine percent of the public will have to cut back on what they buy."