Topics on Modern Japanese Economy

Japanese Economy

This course surveys issues related to the Japanese economy. A particular emphasis is put on understanding economic troubles that Japan started to face at the end of the last century, including macroeconomic stagnation, deflation, aging and population decline, seemingly unsustainable fiscal policy, extremely low interest rates, and stagnating wages in the tight labor market. Many of those issues are now observed in other advanced economies and pose challenges to the standard economic theory. The course explores how much we can use the standard tools in economics to understand the issues in the Japanese economy and tries to derive general lessons that would apply to other economies that are or will be experiencing similar issues.

MIMA Search

授業計画

We start by clarifying the main goals of the course, which is to understand the important issues that the Japanese economy has been facing and to come up with general lessons that are useful for other economies. Then, we study the macroeconomic development of the Japanese economy from the late 19th Century, with particular emphasis on the rapid economic growth in the 1950s to the 1970s followed by a long stagnation from the begging of the 1990s. We also look at institutional aspects of the Japanese economy in labor, finance, and business condition, and how some apparently unique features of Japan have changed overtime. The next to last class (on November 9) that covers the final chapter of the textbook provides a comprehensive review of the lost two decades of the Japanese economy and discuss the lessons for the rest of the world. The final class (on November 13) will discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Japanese economy and speculates on the future of the Japanese economy.

授業の方法

Lectures, but questions and discussions in class are highly encouraged.

成績評価方法

Based on the scores of in-class quizzes and homeworks.

教科書

Takatoshi Ito and Takeo Hoshi, The Japanese Economy, 2nd Edition. (MIT Press, 2020)

参考書

Takeo Hoshi and Phillip Y. Lipscy, Eds. The Political Economy of the Abe Government and Abenomics Reforms. (Cambridge University Press, 2021)

履修上の注意

Students are strongly encouraged to ask questions and to participate in class discussion.