Yoshito Funashima Faculty of Economics, Tohoku Gakuin University   1-3-1 Tsuchitoi, Aoba-ku Sendai, Miyagi 980-8511 Japan   funashima@mail.tohoku-gakuin.ac.jp             JEL Areas: E3 : Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles: General (includes Measurement and Data) E6 : Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General