Japan’s wage squeeze undermines Takaichi’s ‘trickle down’ plans

Despite a decisive election victory built on promises to ease Japan’s cost-of-living crisis, fresh government data released this week suggests voters’ faith in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s brand of “trickle-down” prosperity may soon be tested. Preliminary figures from the labour ministry show that inflation-adjusted wages shrank by 1.3 per cent last year, extending a three-year slide in real incomes as rising prices for essentials continued to outstrip pay increases. The average employee...