October 2020 Luncheon: “From Abenomics to Suganomics: Overview of the Japanese Economy”

+ Thank you to those who attended the luncheon!
Have a look at our article to find out what was discussed!

We are pleased to invite you to our October Luncheon with Dr. Sayuri Shirai, Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, who will deliver a speech titled “From Abenomics to Suganomics: Overview of the Japanese Economy”.

Japan’s economy lacks dynamism and faces mounting challenges including declining population, aging, huge public debt virtually monetized by the Bank of Japan, and rising China. Nonetheless, the society is remarkably stable with apparently limited incidence of severe social and political conflicts. To cope with recession caused by the 2008 Lehman shock and the 2011 East Japan Earthquake, Abenomics was launched in 2013 targeting the average real GDP growth rate of 2 percent over the next 10 years and the 2 percent inflation target within two years. These goals failed, but Abenomics are viewed partially successful because of yen’s depreciation and higher stock and real estate prices. Mr. Abe might be praised for promoting a few free trade agreements, corporate governance reforms, and labor market reforms although many of these measures could not lead to raising labor productivity. New Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s new economic policy package, so-called Suganomics, is under spotlight as his emphasis on digitization of government services and administrative reforms are adding a sense of originality to the otherwise mediocre impression of following Abenomics. The presentation will give an overview over the features of Japanese economy in the past decades and highlight developments since Abenomics with some perspectives over Suganomics.

In order to prevent the spread of Covid-19, a set of sanitary measures (detailed below) will be implemented to guarantee the safety of all participants. We thank you very much in advance for your kind understanding and cooperation, and look forward to welcoming you!

BIOGRAPHY OF THE SPEAKER

Dr. Sayuri Shirai is currently a professor of Keio University and is also senior advisor to Federated Hermes EOS (stewardship service provider) loccated n London. She holds Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University. She was also visiting scholar to Asian Development Bank Institute in 2016-2020. She was a Member of the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) in 2011-2016, who is responsible for making policy decisions. She taught at Sciences Po in Paris in 2007–2008 and was an economist at the IMF in 1993-1998. She is the author of numerous books and papers on a variety of subjects including monetary policies, global finance, macroeconomies, exchange rate systems, central bank digital currency, and cryptocurrency issues. She frequently comments on Japanese economy at CNBC, Bloomberg, Singapore CAN, and other TV programs. Her most recent book in English is Growing Central Bank Challenges in the World and Japan published by the Asian Development Bank Institute in 2017 and second edition in 2020 (free download available). Her personal homepage is available here.

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