A Powerful Mandate

How Japan’s snap election reveals the hard limits of debt, democracy, and global markets

Last Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved the lower house of parliament and called a snap election, seeking to leverage her roughly 70% approval rating into a stronger mandate to execute her agenda. Shortly after, Takaichi addressed the Japanese public, framing the decision as a referendum on her leadership itself. At first glance, t…