"Improving Economic Statistics in order to Improve Economic Policy and Research: （5）Diagnosis and Treatment --- 5W1H, the statistical system, Rokumeikan after half a century, The Emperor in New Clothes" (in Japanese)

This is the fifth article in my series, "Improving Economic Statistics in order to Improve Economic Policy and Research". It fleshes out some of the issues presented in the first article, Miwa [2014a]. In reading the four previous articles, readers learn that government statistics in Japan, both individual statistics and statistics as a whole, have serious problems, to which, understanding precisely the real situation and diagnosing accurately their generating mechanism, they have to adopt immediately effective countermeasures. Asking "why those problems remain unchallenged?", the article examines their generation mechanism, and investigates the direction of appropriate policies, rather than specific countermeasures. As shown in the fourth article (Miwa [2015]), given the publication of the 93SNA report and the active participation of many countries in the recent international movement reflecting it, Japan still lags its peers, not only in the quality of published statistics but also in the statistics compilation system as a whole and the cooperation between government sections concerned. There is among relevant parties little common understanding of the concept of the statistical system -- little understanding that statistics as a whole comprise a system, with individual statistics constituting it as components. Also, few recognize the importance of consistency between individual statistics, with which they lose the opportunity of using their inter-dependence to greatly improve the accuracy and reliability of individual statistics. Many problems with actual =statistics have roots in common causes. It is necessary to accurately focus on the intersection of causes in investigating appropriate polices. This article examines the actual situation in Japan, referring to the past and the present of the U.S. system which like the Japanese one is known as "decentralized". Compilation and publication of statistics is a government activity. In addition to its extreme "decentralization" under the well-known Japanese government’s compartmentalized public administration (tatewari-gyosei), the present state is influenced by decisively poor demand from government sections for statistics, which is symbolized by little progress in realizing quantitative evidence-based policies. Thus, the treatment for the problems in the Japanese statistics needs a fundamental review of the political-administrative decision making process and system. It is really a grave and important issue, a long-drawn-out affair.