During the Great Depression, which began with the stock market crash of 1929, President Franklin ROOSEVELT famously implemented his New Deal program in the United States. Over in Japan, the Finance Minister at that time was TAKAHASHI Korekiyo, who adopted an economic policy based on banning exports of gold, increasing fiscal spending and monetary easing. In 2020, the Japanese government’s economic stimulus package for Covid-19 focused on helping the devastated tourism and hospitality industries. The first campaign to be launched was “Go To Travel.” Many people who were exhausted from living a life of self denial jumped at the chance to save virtually 50% off the cost of their travel expenses. The media, who had been running Covid-19-related stories day after day from morning till night, did a complete about turn and went all out on their coverage of the campaign. However, this created a phenomenon in which there was greater demand for bigger discounts at upscale accommodations in famous resorts, while lesser known resorts, business hotels and guest houses did not benefit at all. The “Go To Eat” campaign that followed included a promotion where if you booked a meal online, you would earn at maximum 1,000 yen worth of points to be used at a later date. Those that took advantage of this and spent 1,000 yen on a meal, would get 1,000 yen worth of points, which meant that they could eat for free next time. In addition, if you’d used up the 1,000 yen of points on a meal out, you could take advantage of the campaign again and have as many free meals as you wanted to after that. These campaigns required you to use online booking sites. Because of this, some people made the objection that it was rather hard for the elderly and small local restaurants to use. Some lodging facilities and restaurants complained about the complicated and time consuming application procedure for the campaign registration. Since the launch of the campaign, there have been mixed reactions to it, due to changes to the conditions and terms of service as well as to misinformation. Some suspected that the bias of the campaign to certain destinations may have been related to the government’s hidden interests or financial supporters. The costs of these campaigns is ultimately paid for in taxes. In other words, it’s citizens who are footing the bill. This is why many people are saying that they would prefer that those in need receive help, rather than their taxes go to benefit those who are already well-to-do.