Saturday, May 30, 2009

HARIKARI CAPITALISM

"Suicide is rising in Japan as the economic crisis bites, with more than 100 people a day taking their lives in April. "It's the end of the financial year, so I think the effect of the economy is a trigger," said Yasuyuki Shimizu, head of Lifelink, a group that campaigns to prevent suicide. In a recession, the end of the financial year tends to spark bankruptcies and layoffs. Japan's suicide rate is already one of the highest in the developed world, with about 24 cases per 100,000 population in recent years, compared with 11 in the United States. The April figure was up 6 percent from the same month last year, police statistics showed on Wednesday."
(Yahoo News, 28 May) RD

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