JICA USA Office

Message from Chief Representative Nakazawa: Trickle-down theory in practice

Mr. Keiichiro Nakazawa, JICA USA's Chief Representative

Has anyone ever heard of ‘rakugo,’ which is a Japanese form of comic storytelling performed by a single, seated entertainer? Rakugo has its beginnings in the 16th century and is still popular in Japan. Let me introduce you to the storyline of one of the most famous rakugo, though I'm sorry to say, I have to skip the comic part of it.

Once upon a time in Japan, there was a very serious and demanding store manager in town. He developed an uncompromising and harsh attitude toward his junior staff members. Though the store made a lot of profits, which the store owner appreciated, the staff looked blue and tired.

One spring day, the manager played truant from work and secretly went to see the cherry blossoms with his lackeys and geisha girls. He drank a lot of sake (Japanese liquor) and became inebriated. As ill luck would have it, he then encountered the store owner and made an embarrassment of himself.

Afterwards he felt seriously depressed, and he was afraid that he would be fired. But to his surprise, when they met each other the next day, the owner was very relaxed and told him the following story:

"Long, long ago in China, there was a beautiful great tree. People loved the tree very much. But the tree was overrun with weeds that were unpleasant to the eye. One day, someone dug up all weeds, so that people could enjoy looking at only the great tree. However, soon after, the great tree died.

On examination, it became clear that the great tree grew up using the weeds as fertilizer, and the weeds grew up using dew drops from the great tree. They, in fact, existed together."

Then the owner continued admonishingly:

"Listen, between you and me, I may be the great tree and you may be the weeds. I need you and you need me. I fully appreciate what you do for the store. In turn, in the store, you may be the great tree and your junior staff may be the weeds. In my eye, the weeds of the store do not look green and well. I hope you give them some more dew."

President Obama said in a speech in early April that in this country, broad-based prosperity has not trickled down from the success of a wealthy few. He wants the rich to pay their fair share and to contribute more in taxes. The following day, former President G.W. Bush said to his audience, "If you raised taxes on the so-called rich, you're really raising taxes on the job creators. And if the goal is private-sector growth, you've got to recognize that the best way to create that growth is to leave capital in the treasuries of the job creators."

I do not know which is right. But I believe that the old rakugo tale can teach us a lesson that applies to both advanced and developing economies: broad-based economic growth is critical for lasting prosperity. Trickle-down theory works where the great tree understands that it cannot survive without healthy weeds, as both the tree and the weeds are in the same boat. On the other hand, in a society where the great tree is only keen to maximize its profits and believes that it can be and will be prosperous by itself, the theory never works.

In this context, the question is simple: Do the weeds in your country look green now?