Editorial Board

Reminder to Shinzo Abe: The Economy Is Your Legacy

Japan’s prime minister has secured another term, and he needs to use it wisely.

September 23, 2018 at 10:00 PM UTC

By The Editorial Board

The Editorial Board publishes the views of the editors across a range of national and global affairs.

Nearing a record for longevity.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

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This article is part of the October 1, 2018 issue of businessweek.

After his victory last week in an internal vote to lead Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks set to remain in office till 2021 — longer than any Japanese political leader since the days of the samurai. He has a lot still to do in this third and last term, and shouldn’t waste his remaining time in power.

Thanks to a series of scandals, Abe’s popularity isn’t what it was. Nonetheless, he is granted — and deserves — credit for keeping some of his earlier promises on the economy. His three-pronged “Abenomics” program, built around loose monetary policy, fiscal stimulus and structural economic reform, has gotten results. The economy has grown steadily if modestly for nine of the last 10 quarters. Unemployment is near a 25-year low. Wages are creeping up.