Ryutaro Hashimoto, Japan’s prime minister from 1996 to 1998, went to his deathbed in 2006 seething over being tagged as Asia’s Hoover. Among those doing the labeling was former Sony Corp. Chairman Norio Ohga. Hashimoto’s crime? The same as Hoover’s -- an ill-timed and ill-advised tax increase that ended Japan’s post-bubble recovery.
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