Topics on Modern Japanese Economy

Faculty

ITO, Takatoshi

Credit / Semester / Schedule / Language

2 Credits / Summer / Tuesday Period: 3 / English

Objectives/Overview

Objective: The objective of this course is to give students basic understanding of how the post-war Japanese economy, with emphasis on the experiences in the 1990s and 2000s, has worked based on economic theory and empirical evidence. The role of economic policies—monetary policy, fiscal policy, financial supervision and regulation, industrial policy—will be carefully examined.

Keywords

Japanese economy, Monetary policy, Fiscal Policy, International Finance, English

Schedule

The following topics of the Japanese economy will be covered. General introduction to the topic will be followed by economic models to understand the issues, empirical evidences in the literature, and policy choices.

Topics:
1. Economic Growth: Great Stagnation and Recovery
2. Deflation and Monetary Policy
3. Financial Supervision: Nonperforming loans problem and banking crisis
4. Fiscal Policy: Fiscal sustainability
5. Industrial and Competition Policy
6. Demography, Saving, and Social Security
7. International Finance: the role of the yen

Teaching Methods

Prerequisite: (Intermediate) Macroeconomics and Microeconomics
Readings will be assigned for each topic. Students are expected to read those readings prior to the lecture and participate in the class discussion.

Class materials and announcements will be posted at
http://www.e.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~tito/j_course.htm

Grading

Class participation (25%) Midterm Exam (25%) and Final Exam (50%)

Required Text

Manuscript of lecture notes will be provided to students

Reference Books

Takatoshi Ito, Japanese Economy, MIT Press, 1992.
Mitsuhiko Iyoda, Postwar Japanese Economy, Springer, 2010.
Thomas F. Cargill, Michael M. Hutchison, and Takatoshi Ito, Financial policy and Central Banking in Japan, MIT Press, 2001.

Notes on Taking the Course

Prerequisite: (Intermediate) Macroeconomics and Microeconomics

Readings will be assigned for each topic. Students are expected to read those readings prior to the lecture and participate in the class discussion.

Related Resources