The policies he executed were often criticized as 'money politics,' but so far, no reasonable answer has been provided for the question of how the nearly-bankrupt financial affairs of the shogunate government at the time could have been recovered without carrying out mercantilism policies which resulted in bribery.
彼の行った諸政策を金権政治の一言で切り捨てる向きもあるが、「贈収賄の蔓延がついて回る重商政策を行わずにどうすれば当時破綻寸前だった幕府財政を立て直せたのか？」との問いに万人を納得させる方法論が未だ提起されていないのが実情である。