26 October 2017 by Sigrid B. Wangsness JAPAN’S ECONOMY 26 October 2017 by Sigrid B. Wangsness

I. Historical Perspectives Developments in Japan’s economy from 1980: 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” 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. The Present Situation The present state of the Japanese economy through economic indicators: GDP: 1.4% (Q2) (Prediction for 2017: +1.5%) Inflation: +0.6 (Aug.) (2017: +0.5) Unemployment rate: 2.8% (Aug.)

The Present Situation Current-account balance: +$192.2bn (Aug., latest 12 mos.) +3.6% of GDP 2017 Budget balance: -4.5% of GDP 2017 Where is Japan ranked on the list of the world’s top ten largest economies in 2017?

The Present Situation Summarize the main ideas of the article “Japan’s master plan” in three sentences. (Compendium, p. 115) What is “Abenomics”? What are the major challenges for Abenomics? Is Abenomics working? Discuss! (Compendium, pp.116-118)

III. The Japanese Culture Outline the main aspects of the Japanese business culture as Richard D. Lewis portrays it. (Compendium, pp. 19-35, 45-49)