AN odd debate is shaping up in this year's race for governor. You could call it: The yen, do we really need it? The first notice of our candidate's concern about Japanese money came when Gov. Ben Cayetano started saying he wasn't responsible for the price of the yen. Fixing Hawaii’s economy
despite the yenHe may be a powerful governor, but he can't control the value of Japanese currency, Cayetano explained.
Despite this failure to own up for yen responsibility, Maui Mayor Linda Lingle, Republican candidate for governor, promptly announced that the yen really wasn't important.
''It doesn't matter what the value of the yen is on any given day, that's not the secret to what is bothering Hawaii today," Lingle says.
While Lingle absolves Cayetano of responsibility for the Japanese economy, he doesn't get off the hook completely.
"We need to focus on the things we can have an impact on, like bringing accountability to government, stopping waste in government, over-regulation," she tells Cayetano.
So while Cayetano and Lingle appear to agree that the governor isn't in charge of calculating how many yen will buy a new tennis outfit at Liberty House, the economy is still on life support.
Enter Frank Fasi, Honolulu's erstwhile mayor who has launched his fifth campaign for governor.
"We have been brainwashed into thinking that tourism is the only way to go," Fasi says.
"I don't believe it is true. I don't believe we should be worried every time the yen drops and we want more yen to come here," he states.
So, what to do?
Hawaii's legislative and state leaders love to dabble in foreign policy when it is benign. Honolulu has nearly a dozen sister-city relationships, the Legislature entertains study missions to both Asia and Europe, but now the Japanese economy is off limits.
Although Cayetano may not be responsible for the price of the yen, he's concerned. Last month the governor wrote President Clinton urging him to stop the yen's slide.
"Hawaii is likely to be the state most severely impacted by the decline in the value of the yen," he said.
No one is arguing with that statement.
Hawaii saw a 6.3 percent drop in Japanese tourists in May, although we are still getting 13 percent of all the Japanese tourist business.
Still this is tricky stuff.
Monday's Associated Press report on the Japanese economy noted that the prime minister was back-pedalling on promises of income-tax cuts. The foreign minister was saying he "misspoke" when talking about permanent tax cuts.
Last week those flip-flops made the dollar worth 141 yen.
This is the lowest the yen has gone in eight years. The result is cheaper prices for Japanese goods for us and more expensive American stuff for Japanese traveling here.
THERE'S more to this debate than trying to pin or duck responsibility for the state's economic woes. There's a good debate about the options local business have to expand and how much encouragement they need from the state.
The three candidates need to start talking specifics about what measureable changes they can make if we decide to hire them to run Hawaii for the next four years.
The question isn't how Hawaii will fare under a weak or strong yen, but which candidate can show he or she will make a difference in Hawaii's economy.
Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@pixi.com