Massive Japanese spending has failed to lift Okinawa’s economy

Evidence

While Japan has spent an estimated $70 billion to raise Okinawa’s level of development to Japanese standards since the end of the U.S. occupation in 1972, per capita income there remains the lowest among Japan’s 47 prefectures, at around 70 percent of the national average. The unemployment rate remains the highest nationwide, at 7.5 percent. People are realizing “this money is not to build a sustainable economy,” said Sato. In rural northern communities of Okinawa, where most of the U.S. training bases are found, government spending is creating a “serious dependency problem.” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 875

Categorization

• CANDY: The $70 billion spent yet still lowest per-capita income stat is a striking, shareable number.