If we compare society today and society a hundred years ago, isn't the fundamental difference that, today, finally, a large number of citizens are gradually being provided with the opportunity to take advantage of their talents in one way or another? "5 I am not saying that simply raising the employment rate is the same as the ideals expressed by Dr. Shimomura.
4  The figures are for 2017 and are taken from the World Economic Outlook Database April 2018, available on the website of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): https://www.imf.org/external /pubs/ft/weo/2018/01/weodata/index.aspx. 5 Kamikubo Satoshi, Hyōden, Nihon no keizai shisō, Shimomura Osamu, 'Nihon keizaigaku' no jissensha (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Hyouronsha Ltd., 2008), 227.