Global capital has a setback as Japan Post stays public.

The collapse of the US economic model (privatize everything) has claimed yet another victim. This is good news though.  The Japanese government has passed a law freezing the privatization of Japan post, one of the largest financial institutions in the world. Caught up in the frenzy to copy the US model, Japan's previous government and investors around the globe, wanted to hand over the service to the private sector.  But a lot has happened in the last two years; they are very dismayed at the reversal.

Japan's new government and prime minister Yukio Hatayama have already fired the private banker that headed Japan Post and replaced him with a finance ministry official.  Japan Post's services are extensive and reach every community.  It's services include banking and insurance and is a lifeline to many older people in rural areas. The intent, says the Wall Street Journal, is "..to focus on insulating households from market forces."  and to "guarantee postal and financial services nationwide." 

Japan Post has 24, 532 post offices nationwide and the government wants to use them as "vehicles for a more active government social policy."  You can imagine the horror investors and the Goldman Sachs crowd feel when they hear government officials say, "Japan Post has outlets across Japan including in mountains and Islands. We could use them as bases for elderly care or places to pay out pensions." Isn't that shocking?

Speculators and other crooks have been eyeing state postal services around the world and pushing for them to be privatized.  They want the market to work its magic. Part of that magic is no service for out of the way areas, small communities and such.  Then there will be the extra charges for insurance and banking services, which are included with Japan Post at the moment. 

Just as the private sector fears the introduction of any public service, even a public insurance company for health care as suggested in the US, they fear they will not be able to provide the same services that Japan Post provides, and they're correct.  they know that once instituted, people don't let go of social services very easily. This is unfair competition say the swindlers.

Global capitalism is concerned as this is an attack on their precious market.  AFLAC, the insurance company, gets 70% of its global revenue by selling cancer insurance in japan; it doesn't want the state interfering in its private business.

Laughingly, the privatizers claim it will create inefficiencies as some, possibly rural, post offices will lose money.  So what!  It's inefficient for someone to not be able to get on a bus or mail a letter.  The Journal puts it plainly, "Private financial institutions fear reduced access to household savings currently locked up in the postal savings system.."

Straight from the horses mouth. This is the crux of the matter, they want to get their hands on people's savings.  Those savings have been used throughout for investment in infrastructure, construction spending and huge public works projects, keeping people working  Contrast that to the trillions of dollars of taxpayer money we have given or pledged to the crooks that caused the present economic crisis.  The $750 billion in TARP money is just one example.  And what about the $175 billion we gave to eleven banks that then paid $33 billion in bonuses to their employees (not the cashier you see on Friday), a sum that could have wiped out California's deficit with $10 billion left over.

Global financial houses want those savings but not for social spending.  They want it for currency trading, market speculation, buying property and art. They want to gamble with it.

Make no bones about it; this reversal is a considerable shock to global capitalism and a result of the ongoing historic crisis of capitalism itself.