Economy - Discuss Japan

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No.38
Economy, No.38  Apr. 12, 2017

Excessive Pessimism about the Shrinking Society

Since the collapse of the bubble economy in 1991, the Japanese economy has remained stagnant for an unprecedented length of time. Initially, economists from various countries regarded this long-term stagnation as economic deceleration that was happening only in Japan due in part to poor policy responses. However, the financial crisis triggered by the Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008 involving Europe and the United States and the slowdown in the economic growth of various countries have led to the rise of the so-called secular stagnation theory, which argues that long-term stagnation is not exclusively a problem of Japan, but a structural slowdown in growth of the overall advanced economies. Factors such as the falling birthrate and the aging population demographic change and dwindling investment opportunities are regarded as common factors. However, discussions in Japan are excessively pessimistic. This has created a vicious circle, in which ... ... [Read more]