Upload
sabrina-little
View
212
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
JAPAN’S ECONOMY
23 October 2013by
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)