from a special correspondent Despite Japan's booming economy (mostly stimulated in the last few years by the Vietnam war) the Government of that country is beginning to worry about balance of payment trends. A report in Financial Times of May 16 noted:
which has developed in the nation's international balance of trade. The opinion is that exports are not expanding mainly because of a downtrend in 4 some important overseas markets is combined with too booming a domestic market, Japan's comprehensive international accounts showed a deficit of $68m. in ° March. In April the deficit is estimated to have reached about $70m. The same two months of 1966 showed profits of J5m. and $4m, respectively, leading the Finance Ministry to fear that the trend in Japan's international accounts has basically changed.
"The Japanese Government is beginning to take seriously the unfavourable trend '
Current transactions, centred around the trade accounts, resulted in profits each month since June of 1966 of more than $100m. This March, however, a deficit of approximately $l4m. was noted. April's deficit is estimated at about 210m. The Finance Ministry and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry have warned the Cabinet several times in recent months that exports must expand to match the growth in imports if trouble is to be avoided in the near future," COMMENT This kind of report shows the futility of Wilson's attempts to solve Britain's economic problems by capitalist methods. Japan's efforts to solve this problem are bound to cut across British efforts, and vice versa,