Saving Japan from the shadows - Saving it from the shadows; Japan after Livedoor.(securities fraud)

Economist (US), The, February, 2006

Japanese firms really are cleaner, more determined and more focused. But they need better regulation

PESSIMISTS about Japan's current economic recovery have had a disappointing few weeks. Convinced that faster economic growth, stronger corporate balance sheets and cleaned-up banks were just a mirage, their eyes brightened on January 16th when the country's most high profile young entrepreneur for years, Takafumi Horie, was raided by prosecutors and later arrested on suspicion of securities offences, bringing about turmoil on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and recriminations among politicians and in the media. Didn't the collapse and exposure of his internet-based conglomerate, livedoor [sic], show that pro-market reforms had gone too far? Alternatively, might the...

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