[The international press has focused attention on the Abe Shinzo administration's high profile China and Korea diplomacy. Little noticed has been the fact that the Japanese economy is slipping back into trouble. One strong signal is found in Japanese press reports from October 21 that the Abe Shinzo people basically kicked Hitotsubashi University Emeritus Professor Ishi Hiromitsu off the Government Tax Commission and replaced him with a supply-side true believer. Ishi's term was up, but according to the Nikkei he wanted re-appointment. Not in the cards, especially after Ishi put out a very public and explosive call for equity and tax increases last year. The new chief of the Commission is to be Osaka University's Honma Masaaki, who's keen on cutting the corporate tax and following the new Abe regime's line of low taxes despite Japan's stratospheric debt, skimpy social investment and mounting needs for elder care.