Japan'S Lost Decade - Origins, Consequences And Prospects For Recovery

This volume explores the origins of Japan’s current economic crisis and assesses the country’s prospects for recovery.

• An exploration of the origins and consequences of Japan’s current economic crisis.


• Examines the collapse of the equity and real estate market bubbles in the late 1980s.


• Analyses the failure of Japanese monetary and fiscal policies to reverse the ensuing economic decline.


• Evaluates unorthodox options available to policy makers that might enable Japan to recover from its ‘lost decade’.


• Suggests that Japan’s prospects for economic recovery are still uncertain.

Gary R. Saxonhouse is Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan. He is the author of numerous journal articles on topics ranging from the structure and operation of the Japanese economy to English, Japanese and Indian economic history. He has co-authored or co-edited five books, most recently Finance, Governance and Competitiveness in Japan (2000).

Robert M. Stern is Professor of Economics and Public Policy (Emeritus) at the University of Michigan. He has published numerous papers on a wide variety of topics, including international commodity problems, export-led growth, and services liberalization. His most recent books include Japan’s Economic Recovery (2003) and Issues and Options for U.S.-Japan Trade Policies (2002).

1. The Bubble and the Lost Decade: Gary R. Saxonhouse and Robert M. Stern (both University of Michigan).

2. Retrospective on the Bubble Period and its Relationship to Developments in the 1990s: Takatoshi Ito (University of Tokyo).

3. Why Does the Problem Persist? 'Rational Rigidity' and the Plight of Japanese Banks: Kiyohiko G. Nishimura (University of Tokyo) and Yuko Kawamoto (McKinsey & Company, Japan).

4. Japan's Fiscal Policies in the 1990s: Toshihiro Ihori (University of Tokyo), Toru Nakazato (Sophia University, Tokyo), and Masumi Kawade (University of Tokyo).

5. Japan's Negative Risk Premium in Interest Rates: The Liquidity Trap and the Fall in Bank Lending: Rishi Goyal (International Monetary Fund) and Ronald McKinnon (Stanford University).

6. Japan's Lost Decade and its Financial System: Mitsuhiro Fukao (Keio University, Tokyo).

Index.