Recent Monetary Policy Challenges in Japan and the World

Since the global financial crisis, central banks in Japan, the United States, and the Euro Area have conducted accommodative monetary policy measures to achieve the 2% inflation target. While those measures helped to avoid deep recession and raise stock and real estate prices, their effectiveness has been increasingly questioned due to weak underlying inflation. In response, the United States has been searching an alternative monetary policy framework. In the face of prevalent adverse impacts of monetary easing, moreover, expansionary fiscal policy has become under spotlight recently to stimulate the economy and raise inflation. The seminar will take an overview of unconventional monetary easing measures, alternative monetary policy frameworks discussed, and the modern monetary theory (MMT). The seminar especially focuses on Japan where inflation and wage growth have remained sluggish despite serious labor shortages.

Speaker : Sayuri SHIRAI (Keio University)

Sayuri SHIRAI is a professor of Keio University and is a visiting scholar at the Asian Development Bank Institute. She holds Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University. She was a Member of the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan in 2011-2016. 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 various subjects. Her recent book in English is Mission Incomplete: Reflating Japan’s Economy published in 2018 (free download available). The recent book in Japanese was published in April 2019 entitled The Textbook about Money in the New Cryptocurrency Era. Her information is available at http://www.sayurishirai.jp

Moderator : Jean-Pascal BASSINO (French Research Institute on Japan – MFJ)
Organization : FRIJ-MFJ
Co-organization : CCI France Japon
Support : French Embassy in Japan