What is Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda's plan, and how does that mesh with what the Prime Minister wants?

Ueda's goals are to control inflation in a way that we have a positive growth cycle.

So he doesn't want to be snuffing out inflation and snuffing out growth.

No, no.

He wants inflation to stay there.

It's this idea that an inflation that's stable around 2% is a positive for the economy.

Because people behave differently if you've got inflation.

And is there anything that the US can do to stop that from happening?

What is Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda's plan, and how does that mesh with what the Prime Minister wants?

Ueda's goals are to control inflation in a way that we have a positive growth cycle.

So he doesn't want to be snuffing out inflation and snuffing out growth.

No, no.

He wants inflation to stay there.

It's this idea that an inflation that's stable around 2% is a positive for the economy.

Because people behave differently if you've got inflation.

And is there anything that the US can do to stop that from happening?

Did the BBC want

a second series? No, well, so here's the stupid thing about all that.

The BBC at the time was an incredibly bureaucratic, civil service-based organisation.

So they did yearly plans and everybody, and this was done out of Manchester.

So Peter Ridsdale-Scott, the executive in Manchester in charge of entertainment and comedy in Manchester, had said to me, we'd filmed Filthy Richard and Cat Flap, although it was commissioned by London, we'd filmed it in Manchester, and I got friendly with Peter, and he said, does Ben want to do anything else? Is there anything else that Ben would like to do? Because...

we'll you know we'll take it whatever it is and I thought they're really nice up here you know they've really looked after us well so I said to Ben and Ben said oh I've got this idea so we did Happy Families which in the BBC schedules was called Ben Elton 1 wasn't called Happy Families So, of course, then Peter's saying to me, well, Paul, you know, next year we've got Ben Elton 2.

We've got six half-hours.

I'm just wondering if there's a story behind that and also if there's anything else that got cut

They were masters of the craft, weren't they? They were

absolutely masters of their craft.

And television does a lot of eating itself.

a lot of um shows have been made about these and various other shows but i think probably the best one channel five did a thing called bottom exposed right yeah uh and i think that's probably the best one i've seen uk tv uk tv sorry uk tv you're dead right um i think that's probably the best one i was ever involved in of um and aid it's not which is some time after rick died but aid very very rarely agrees to do interviews and i think he felt this one because it was bottom and that really was their show and he did it and he's incredibly moving and he speaks incredibly powerfully about rick and what he meant as a friend and what he meant as a performer and you know here we are what is it 10 years later whatever it is with a whole bloody festival 75 events going on today because this one man was born here he was You know, we did have our fallings out and we had our disagreements and he could be difficult, but he was an absolute fucking genius.

There's no question about it.

He was an absolute genius.

He was a brilliant actor.

How does it feel watching that back?

He was not going down without a fight.

So I gathered a few of my supporters and went to protest.

And so I put out the call on AOL [laughs] and, um, invited anybody who was upset about it to join me at the State Capitol, and about 50 people showed up.

They all had little signs, um, the US Mint lied, they've stolen state pride, things like that.

They'd just been publicizing the design, and he printed up some round stickers with his Missouri quarter design on it, and he stuck it on the tail side of these 20 or so quarters.

And the next morning, I was dead asleep and got a phone call from somebody at the Kansas City Star, and this reporter said, "How does it feel to be under Secret Service investigation for defacing money?" And the first word out of my mouth was awesome.

And she was like, that's great, honey.

I had no idea what I was talking about, like completely asleep, not really understanding.

But I just remember that moment.

And I told her again in the morning, she's like, you did how much money? And that was like way more than I had made doing anything else.

I mean, that was over a week's worth of pay, and it was one night.

I was like, okay, that's pretty cool.

That's pretty cool.

uh you also carmella anthony went there just carmella yes

So tell me, were you a playful kid?

Totally.

Absolutely.

And I think part of it is maybe some of my mother's frustration on having three boys all very, very close together.

And so as a way to perhaps give herself some time and space for whatever that enterprise looked like for her, it was boys, get out.

get out, go out to the back, play, go.

And it was sort of a command in some way to give her respite, but in the same sense to open up space for us to discover.

And if you think about our relationship, are there points in our relationship where things started to feel more like logistics than just living life?

So what was the role that the government may have played in Q1 when we think of public investment? Was there a lot of government, a lot of fiscal spending?

Uh, well, I think, uh, we've got, in terms of reacting to the inflation story, which is now we're, we're gonna see elevated energy prices, uh, through this war, uh, that, uh, the government is taking action to subsidize, uh, so, uh, energy, and this is gonna lead to, uh, more spending.

So I, I think really rather than looking at, uh, Q1, it's kind of looking ahead.

Uh, this is a big question mark hanging over, uh, Takeuchi, Prime Minister Takeuchi's administration because she's kind of put a, a marker out there saying, "We're not gonna run Japan in the same way as before.

We're not gonna have, like, extra budget after extra budget," as she tries to reassure markets that, uh, her kind of expe- expansionary approach, uh, to, uh, fiscal policy isn't going to, uh, buckle yields, buckle the bond markets, and scare everyone.

The problem she's gonna have is that if you subsidize, uh, energy, you are going to run out of reserve funds.

Given the fact that you mentioned, uh, PPI in the latest reading was the highest, I think, since twenty twenty-three, so obviously everything fueling this inflation narrative, does that necessarily mean that the Bank of Japan is at risk of being behind the curve in terms of tightening? And will we necessarily see a rate hike in June?

June?Uh, well, we've just had Treasury Secretary, uh, Scott Bessent, uh, in Tokyo, and, uh, he's one of the leading voices out there saying that the Bank of Japan certainly is at risk of falling behind [chuckles] uh, the curve.

So what was the role that the government may have played in Q1 when we think of public investment? Was there a lot of government, a lot of fiscal spending?

spending?Uh, well, I think, uh, we've got, in terms of reacting to the inflation story which is now we, we're gonna see elevated energy prices, uh, through this war, uh, that, uh, the government is taking action to subsidize, uh, so, uh, energy, and this is gonna lead to, uh, more spending.

So I, I think really rather than looking at, uh, Q1, it's kind of looking ahead.

Uh, this is a big question mark hanging over, uh, Takaichi, Prime Minister Takaichi's administration because she's kind of put a, a marker out there saying, "We're not gonna run Japan in the same way as before.

We're not gonna have, like, extra budget after extra budget," as she tries to reassure markets that, uh, her kind of exp- expansionary approach, uh, to, uh, fiscal policy isn't going to, uh, buckle yields, buckle the bond markets, and scare everyone.

Now, the problem she's gonna have is that if you subsidize, uh, energy, you are going to run out [laughs] of reserve funds.

Given the fact that you mentioned, uh, PPI in the latest reading was the highest, I think, since 2023, so obviously everything fueling this inflation narrative, does that necessarily mean that the Bank of Japan is at risk of being behind the curve in terms of tightening? And will we necessarily see a rate hike in June?

Uh, well, we've just had Treasury Secretary, uh, Scott Bessent, uh, in Tokyo, and, uh, he's one of the leading voices out there saying that the Bank of Japan certainly is at risk of falling behind, uh, the curve.

So what was the role that the government may have played in Q1 when we think of public investment? Was there a lot of government, a lot of fiscal spending?

Uh, well, I think, uh, we've got, in terms of reacting to the inflation story, which is now we're, we're gonna see elevated energy prices, uh, through this war, uh, that, uh, the government is taking action to subsidize, uh, so, uh, energy, and this is gonna lead to, uh, more spending.

So I, I think really rather than looking at, uh, Q1, it's kind of looking ahead.

Uh, this is a big question mark hanging over, uh, Takeuchi, Prime Minister Takeuchi's administration.Because she's kind of put a, a marker out there saying, "We're not gonna run Japan in the same way as before.

We're not gonna have, like, extra budget after extra budget," as she tries to reassure markets that, uh, her kind of exp- expansionary approach, uh, to, uh, fiscal policy isn't going to, uh, buckle yields, buckle the bond markets, and scare everyone.

Now, the problem she's gonna have is that if you subsidize, uh, energy, you are going to run out [laughs] of reserve funds.

Given the fact that you mentioned, uh, PPI in the latest reading was the highest, I think, since 2023, so obviously everything fueling this inflation narrative, does that necessarily mean that the Bank of Japan is at risk of being behind the curve in terms of tightening? And will we necessarily see a rate hike in June?

Uh, well, we've just had Treasury Secretary, uh, Scott Bessent, uh, in Tokyo, and, uh, he's one of the leading voices out there saying that the Bank of Japan certainly is at risk of falling behind [laughs], uh, the curve.

Can we begin with a backstory on how we got here and why Takeichi called for this snap election? The

ruling party in Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party, has been struggling to hold on to power in recent elections.

Voters are very unhappy about inflation.

It's the first time they've been experiencing inflation in a generation.

It's putting a lot of pressure on households.

And they're wanting the government to kind of take control of this.

Also, we have a country that's, you know, surrounded in Asia by various security concerns.

What about the issue of immigration and the growing presence in Japan of non-Japanese immigrants?

Can we begin with a backstory on how we got here and why Takeichi called for the snap election?

the ruling party in Japan the Liberal Democratic Party has been struggling to hold on to power in recent elections voters are very unhappy about inflation it's the first time they've been experiencing inflation in a generation It's putting a lot of pressure on households.

And they're wanting the government to kind of take control of this.

Also, we have a country that's, you know, surrounded in Asia by various security concerns.

And since she became prime minister just three months ago, she's been riding high in the opinion polls.

Now, you could think it's a bit cheeky to go straight to the electorate when you're less than a quarter through your leadership position.

But she's clearly trying to take advantage of those high opinion poll ratings and the idea that, look, I am a leader with identity.

What about the issue of immigration and the growing presence in Japan of non-Japanese immigrants?

[laughs]

... uh, when y- you're less than a quarter through, uh, your, your leadership, but she's, uh, uh, clearly trying to take advantage of those high opinion poll ratings and the idea that, "Look, I am a leader with identity.

I can be more assertive as a leader in Japan, and I can make Japan more assertive, give more identity to Japan." And really, Takeuchi is gambling on this personal appeal to the electorate in the style of former leaders like Shinzo Abe and Junichiro Koizumi to, uh, appeal directly to the electorate rather than through the party and get people to vote, uh, for her.

And she's put her career [laughs] on the line because imagine if she doesn't extend a razor-thin, uh, majority that she's got at the moment.

I mean, she's, she's literally one seat majority at the moment-

What about the issue of immigration and the growing presence in Japan of non-Japanese?

non-Japanese?Well, we have a record number of foreigners now working in Japan.

The numbers have gone up again, and this is a concern for those pockets of Japan where you have a large concentration of foreigners working either in manufacturing.

Mm.

And, uh, she, she probably can in that respect.

What we saw in her campaign this time round compared with last year is she toned down some of her economic policy messaging and kind of gave us a softer view of who she was.

I think the idea there was to appeal to a wider swathe of the ruling party and to the public as well.

So it remains to be seen whether, you know, she comes into power and then takes off her sheep's clothing, and there's the wolf, or whether she's gonna stick to a slightly, slightly closer to centrist line so that she can achieve longevity in her position, because don't forget, this is a very fickle political machine we're talking about.

We've seen a host of prime ministers over the years being thrown out within, like, a year.

So if she wants to really establish herself, leave a legacy that really does show that her appointment is a watershed, she does need to tap into the common person on the street, as well as those people who are fretting about the influx of foreigners and wanting more conservative views also expressed.

And among the litany of issues, Bloomberg's Paul Jackson says there's one clear priority for Takaichi.