ポスト成長の年明け―すべて将来世代のために

昨日の読売新聞新年早々の社説と比較すると面白いです。
新聞社により力点が異なるのが面白いですね。
これも新聞を読む醍醐味のひとつでしょう。
毎日新聞はまだ発表していないようですね＾＾。
毎日のは多分反原発主体ではないでしょうか。
（スラチャイ）

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 1
EDITORIAL: Painful choices needed for sake of future generations
ポスト成長の年明け―すべて将来世代のために

The new year has arrived, but Japan continues to grapple with a wide range of formidable challenges.
　新しい年も難問が続く。

Besides dealing with all the intractable problems created by last year’s Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the government also needs to tackle the political challenge of raising the consumption tax in line with a draft plan finally announced by the ruling Democratic Party of Japan at the end of last year.
　東日本大震災、福島の原発事故への対応はもちろん、年末に民主党がやっと素案を決めた消費税率の引き上げもある。

The sovereign debt crisis in Europe, which has been threatening to knock the world economy off the growth track, is also demanding close attention and monitoring.
世界経済を脅かした欧州の財政金融危機からも目が離せない。

It is certainly a coincidence that all these challenges have emerged to confront the nation at the same time. But there seems to be a common thread.
　難問が織り重なったのは偶然だが、なにか共通した問題を暗示しているように思う。

All these challenges appear to indicate that the age of continuous economic growth in industrial nations that began soon after the end of World War II is now coming to an end.
　それは、戦後ずっと続いてきた「成長の時代」が、先進国ではいよいよ終わろうとしているということだ。

Huge deficits from financial bubbles
■バブルで財政赤字に

The accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and its dire consequences have forced us to reflect seriously on the reality that an energy source that has been supporting our affluent society is in fact standing on very shaky ground.
　原発の惨状は、豊かな生活を支えてきた潤沢なエネルギーがじつは危うい上げ底だったとの反省を迫っている。

The towering budget deficits in Japan, the United States and Europe are the prices of their reckless efforts to stoke economic growth.
　日米欧の赤字財政は、成長を無理に追い求めたツケだ。

World history is littered with grim episodes about aggressive monetary expansion to revitalize a sputtering economy ending up creating bubbles with serious consequences.
　世界の歴史を振り返れば、経済成長が行き詰まると、成長を取り戻そうとして金融を拡大し、バブルを生んできた。

Japan also produced speculative bubbles after the end of its fast economic growth and piled on debt to deal with the consequences of the bursting of these bubbles.
　日本も高度成長が終わってバブルをつくりだし、その後処理のために財政赤字を積み上げてしまった。

The Japanese government sank deeper into the budget morass as it kept issuing huge amounts of bonds to finance measures to stimulate economic growth.
成長を諦めきれずに国債を乱発したからでもある。

The United States and Europe, where housing bubbles popped in a global recession triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, are now following the same path as Japan, struggling with huge budget deficits.
　住宅バブルがリーマン・ショックで破裂した欧米も、財政赤字をふくらませ日本が来た道をたどっている。

Industrial nations, which have built more or less affluent societies, are now having a hard time finding a new powerful engine of economic and job growth.
　それなりに豊かな社会を実現した先進各国はいま、新たな成長のタネを探しあぐね、雇用の確保に苦しむ。

Economic growth is indeed a magic wand to solve many problems.
　経済成長は多くの問題を解決してくれる魔法の杖には違いないが、

But many industrial nations have gotten themselves in an awful bind as they have failed to discover new seeds of growth and turned to fiscal and monetary stimulants to re-energize their economies.
そのタネを見つけられぬまま財政と金融に頼って成長の夢を追った結果、各国とも難問を抱えこんでしまっている。

It has become clear that the traditional policy approach to stimulating economic growth no longer works.
　従来の手法が経済成長を生まない。

The world is obviously at a major turning point in history.
そんな歴史の大きなトレンドが変わりつつある。

"Herbivores" a byproduct of society's adjustment
■進化が生んだ草食系

Various signs of profound changes are already visible.
　すでに変化の芽は、さまざまな形で見えている。

Last autumn, Japanese people eagerly welcomed Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema when they visited Japan.
　昨秋、ブータンから来日したワンチュク国王夫妻を人々は大歓迎した。

Japanese were not just charmed by the royal couple’s amiable and unassuming characters. They also saw one possible future for their country in the Himalayan kingdom’s unique policy focus on spiritual fulfillment rather than on material wealth.
This is symbolized by the “Gross National Happiness,” an indicator invented and espoused by the Buddhist country to measure the quality of life among people.
その清新な人柄の魅力もあったが、物質的な充足よりも心の豊かさを求めてＧＮＨ（国民総幸福）を掲げるブータンの国是に、ひとつの未来を見いだしたからだろう。

Tokyo’s Arakawa Ward has been working to develop its own indicator of happiness for seven years by learning from Bhutan’s experience. Similar efforts are also under way in other parts of Japan.
　ブータンにならい、幸福の指標を７年前から研究してきた東京の荒川区をはじめ、各地で同じような模索が始まっている。

The emergence of Japan’s “herbivores”--mild-tempered young men who are passive in building relationships with the opposite sex and don’t have strong worldly desires or ambitions--is a sign that Japanese have started adapting to social and economic changes due to their nation’s shift to a post-growth era, according to a theory proposed by Mizuho Research Institute.
　草食系の若者たちが登場したのは、ポスト成長の環境変化に適応して進化したからではないか――。みずほ総合研究所がこんな新説を唱えている。

Herbivore men don’t have strong expectations or complaints about the world around them but seek mild bonds with other people.
　過大な期待は抱かず、ほどほどの現状のなかで人々との絆を求める。

Many young people who rushed to help victims of the March 11 disaster appear to fit the mold.
震災のボランティアに駆けつける若者たちと、どこか重なるものがある。

Given the growing concerns about the destruction of the environment and depletion of resources on our planet, it is good for people to adapt to low growth.
　地球大での環境や資源の限界を考えても、低成長に適応していくことは好ましい。

The question, however, is whether Japan will be able to deal with the problem of gargantuan public debt and overcome the effects of the rapidly aging population amid low birthrates without achieving economic growth.
　だがしかし、経済成長をしないで、巨額の財政赤字を処理しつつ、急激に進む少子高齢化を乗り切っていけるのか。

This question brings us to another colossal challenge.
　ここで、次なる難問に突き当たる。

In this age of global competition, when emerging countries are fiercely increasing their economic might to catch up with industrial nations, Japan, with its shrinking population, cannot afford to take it easy.
　新興国が激しく追い上げてくる大競争の時代、人口が減りだした日本は、のんきに構えてはいられない。

It will be difficult for Japan even to maintain the status quo unless it makes strenuous efforts.
よほど努力しないと現状維持すら難しい。

Reality dictates that Japan needs to open itself more to the world and make more aggressive moves to capitalize on the growth potential of emerging countries while developing young people who can compete globally.
　だから、国をもっと開いて打って出て、新興国の成長力を取り込み、世界に伍（ご）していける若い人材を育てていかねばならない。

If we fail to do so, our future will be in jeopardy.
それを怠れば、この国の将来が危うくなる。

From growth to maturity
■成長から成熟社会へ

How can we deal with two conflicting challenges: adapting to zero growth and striving to stoke growth?
　「ゼロ成長への適応」と「成長への努力」という相反するような二つの課題を、同時にどう達成するのか。

This is undoubtedly the hardest economic trial this nation has experienced in its history.
　歴史的にみて、経験したことのない困難な道である。

We propose that sustainability has to be the cardinal guiding principle for our efforts to achieve these goals.
　そのさい、「持続可能性」を大原則とすることを提案する。

That’s because we should put top priority on the well-being of future generations.
何よりも、将来世代のことを考えるためだ。

We should stop trying to inflate economic growth with fiscal and monetary expansion.
　財政支出や金融拡大に頼った「成長の粉飾」はもうしない。

The debt we run up today will have to be paid back by future generations decades down the road. But they have yet to be born.
いま増やした国の借金は何十年も先の世代が返済するが、彼らはまだ生まれてもいない。

That means these future generations will be forced to bear the onerous consequences of decisions they have not made themselves.
決定権のないまま負担だけを背負わされる。

This is a serious defect in democracy.
民主主義の欠陥である。

We must stop repeating this folly now.
この愚をこれ以上繰り返してはならない。

What we need to do is to lay a solid foundation for a matured society by pushing through integrated tax and social security reform.
　取り組むべきは、社会保障と税の一体改革を実現させて、成熟社会の基盤をつくることだ。

Rebuilding social services like health and nursing care and education would help create a new society not driven by economic expansion.
医療・介護や教育といった社会的サービスを再建することが、量的拡大に代わる新たな経済社会につながっていく。

Tax increases and spending cuts inevitably cause pain.
　増税や政府支出のカットはつらい。

Such austerity measures tend to slow the nation’s economic growth. But the painful effects of these efforts must be accepted for the sake of future generations.
成長率の押し下げ要因になるが、将来世代のことを考え甘受しなくてはいけない。

It is also necessary to phase out as soon as possible nuclear power generation, which produces radioactive waste that will remain a serious health hazard for thousands of years.
　また、何万年もの後代まで核のゴミを残す原発は、できるだけ早くゼロにする。

It is also important to promote the use of renewable energy sources and make the economy more environment friendly.
自然エネルギーを発展させ、環境重視の経済に組み替える。

“Silver” markets for products aimed at the elderly and “green” industries that produce and sell eco-friendly products could be new sources of sustainable economic growth.
　シルバー（高齢化）とグリーン（環境）が、次の活力ある経済をつくるタネになり得る。

The government’s policy efforts should be focused on these areas.
ここに力を注ぐべきだ。

Such a policy shift would also mean reorienting society from growth to maturity.
　それは成長から成熟へ、社会を切り替えることでもある。

We have been reveling in the age of steady economic growth for far too long.
　成長の時代を享受してきた私たちは、

We must now take a hard, long-term look at the changes that are taking place and the direction history is following, and then start carrying out steadily what we need to do now.
変化していく歴史の行方を長い目で見つめながら、いまやるべきことを着実に実行していかねばならない。