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JAPAN’S ECONOMY. 23 October 2013 by Sigrid Brevik Wangsness. I. Historical Perspectives. Developments in Japan’s economy from roughly 1980 to 2010: The 1980s: “the golden era” = boom
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JAPAN’S ECONOMY 23 October 2013 by Sigrid Brevik Wangsness
I. Historical Perspectives • Developments in Japan’s economy from roughly 1980 to 2010: • The 1980s: “the golden era” = boom • The 1990s and the 2000s: Two decades of sluggish growth, recessions and uneven recoveries = economic stagnation/slump
Japan’s Economy in the 1990s • 1990: The stock market crashed • Collapse of the bubble economy: The property market crashed, huge public debts, bankruptcies, government budget deficits, corruption scandals • Deflation
Japan’s Economy in the 1990s • What was at the core of Japan’s economic crisis? • What is meant by “bad loans”? • How did the Japanese government try to help the banks?
Japan’s Economy in the 1990s and 2000s • “The Japanese model” (Discuss its weaknesses!) • Other problems of the Japanese economy in the late 1990s • Reforms implemented by the government in Japan • Why such a slow recovery? Opinions differ…
Japan’s Economy in the 1990s and 2000s • Many analysts blame the Japanese government for failing to boost demand but rather implementing a stop-go economic policy. • Other analysts refer to certain aspects of the Japanese corporate culture as main reasons for the economic problems of the 1990s/ 2000s. Which?
II. Japan and China • Explain the following statement from1998 and indicate why it may still be true: ”Japan was once feared for its economic might. Today it is feared for its economic weakness”. • How dependent is Japan’s economy on China? Are they partners or rivals? (Read the article carefully, Compendium, pp. 154-157)
III. The Present Situation • The present state of the Japanese economy through economic indicators: • GDP: 1.2% (Q2) (Prediction for 2013: +1.8%) • Inflation: +0.9 (Aug.) (2013: +0.1) • Unemployment rate: 4.1% (Aug.)
The Present Situation • Current-account balance: +$48.5bn (Aug., latest 12 mos.) +1.1% of GDP 2013 • Budget balance: -8.3% of GDP 2013 • What is Japan’s gross debt (as % of GDP)? • Where is Japan ranked on the list of the world’s top ten largest economies in 2013? (Compendium, p. 158)
The Present Situation • Summarize the main ideas of the article “Japan’s master plan” in three sentences. • What is “Abenomics”? • What are the major challenges for Abenomics? (Compendium, p. 158) • Is Abenomics working? • Japan and Abenomics: “Taxing times” (Handout)
IV. The Japanese Culture • When and what was “Japan’s triple disaster”? (Handout) • Tsunami is a Japanese word in global use. Why do you think? • On the whole, how did the Japanese people react to the disaster? • Who were the culprits and who were the heroes in this tragedy?
The Japanese Culture • Outline the main aspects of the Japanese business culture as Richard D. Lewis portrays it. (Compendium, pp. 7-9, 27, 34-35, 40-41, 50-51, 69, 70-73)