Editorial: Economic recovery top priority.

The furor is over with the end of the House of Councillors election.

The administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who won a green light to tackle "structural reform without sacred cows," now faces a critical time.

When looking squarely at difficulties facing the nation, the government cannot afford to become euphoric over the landslide victory by the Liberal Democratic Party. The government must instead implement necessary policies promptly and resolutely.

The most urgent priority is implementation of measures to prop up the national economy.

With the simultaneous progress of declining prices and the recession, the national economy is on the verge of falling into a deflationary spiral in which the entire economy could contract.

On Monday, the day after the upper house election in which the Koizumi administration won a public mandate, the Nikkei Stock Average plunged to a record low since the collapse of the economic bubble.

The election results, which were expected to have a favorable impact, were …