In the year since Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, the nation's many deficits have been cast in stark relief. The budget deficit is widening as the cost of rebuilding the north-east mounts. The growth shortfall is worrying politicians more than ever and making it hard for Yoshihiko Noda, the sixth prime minister in five years, to keep his job. Deflation is a chronic downer. News that the trade gap disappeared last month was, for now at least, a rare hint that better days might lie ahead.
Oddly, Japan's most obvious shortcoming is being ignored more now than before: women.
(Sydney Morning Herald)
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