DPJ government to slash budgets for scientific research and military recruitment
Remember the Ground Self-Defense Forces PR Center that sells cute moe cookies in its gift shop? It seems it has been targeted as a source of wasteful spending by the DPJ-led government’s budget-cutting panel.
A few days ago, Ren Ho of the DPJ visited the center, inspecting the exhibits and trying out the simulators:
The center, which has no entry fee, is meant to improve the public image of the SDF and encourage young people to enlist. However, it’s free attractions cost the government millions of yen in upkeep fees without generating any easily measurable benefit.
Ren Ho was impressed with the realistic helicopter flight simulator and the gift shop, but that didn’t stop her from going on the offensive against the Defense Ministry bureaucrats who appeared before the budget-cutting panel the next day:
She wanted to know why the PR Center was not crowded with visitors when theme parks that charge considerably expensive entry fees are able to attract many customers, including people willing to make repeat visits. The Defense Ministry bureaucrats acknowledged the need to improve their efforts at promoting the center, but Ren Ho was unconvinced by their vague statements. After an hour of interrogation, it was decided that the SDF’s recruitment and PR budget will be slashed.
If you want to enjoy the stuff at the PR Center, do it soon, because it’s doubtful it will be as impressive next year (if it even still exists).
In recent weeks, the budget-cutting panels have also decided to cut funding for for scientific research programs, including a project meant to develop supercomputers. Scientists and academics have been expressing dismay over the news. Yesterday, a group of Noble Prize winning Japanese scientists held an emergency press conference to declare to the media that Japan may soon lose its status as a leader in science and technology.
Within the English language Japan blogosphere, eco-blogger Martin J. Frid has commented on a plan to cut research subsidies for organic farming:
This is a really bad idea. If the government decides to go ahead with slashing the budget for research and development in the agricultural field, there must be a large number of other projects that would be less important than finding ways forward for sustainable food production that is not relying on chemicals and fossil fuels.
Frind believes that the 300 million yen being spent on such subsidies is actually far less than what the government should be spending on something so important.
I have mixed feelings about the budget-cutting panels. While it is certainly about time somebody started seriously going after wasteful government spending, the nature in which the cuts are being decided makes me question the motives of the new DPJ government. Inarticulate bureaucrats with little experience in appealing to the public are brought before TV cameras to justify their budgets. In almost every case, the bureaucrats are smacked down by Ren Ho and the other panelists, creating perfect soundbites for the evening news broadcasts. Lots of cuts take place, the DPJ gets dramatic footage of its politicians acting decisively on the news, the bureaucrats who waste our tax money are humiliated, and the Hatoyama cabinet approval rating stays above sixty percent. It’s great theater, but it may be resulting in some unwise spending cuts.
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