US election and rate cuts bode well for Japanese

It is indefensible, really, but many foreign observers of the US democratic process find it impossible to take seriously. The spangly pom-poms, clam bakes and oompah bands are faintly ridiculous, the policies are highly parochial, and so interest in the mid-term elections last week was minimal. But the results are important, if only for the sense of solidarity and purpose that President George Bush's administration can now build on. Domestic political endorsement, a weak point so far for Bush, was bolstered by events at the UN, where the US has effectively called the bluff of those urging...