Japanese Economy in Transition
2011/06/27
Ryoichi Imai
International Student Center, Kyushu University
imryoichi（～）isc.kyushu-u.ac.jp
This page is a lecture plan for JTW program, spring 2011.
Outline
We discuss the latest issues in Japanese economy. The course consists of two parts. In the first half, we review the mechanism and the consequence of the global financial crisis since 2008. In the second half we discuss the current debates such as energy policy and youth unemployment in the socio-economic context.
Requirements and Grading Assessment (in parenthesis)
1. Two presentations of the selected issues. You have to make a set of slides using Microsoft PowerPoint or equivalent software. (50%)
2. One final take-home examination. (30%)
3. Regular attendance and participation in discussion. (20%)
You can get two credits by completing all the requirements described above. Some students need three credits in order to transfer credits in accordance with their home university's academic rule. In that case, you have to do some extra assignment, which will be specified in the later stage of the course.
Schedule
The class will start with a series of my lecture. Later students will present their assignments in the class. A detailed weekly plan will be announced soon.
Due to the tight schedule ahead, we will have two meetings to be held on Monday.
Part I: Global Financial Crisis 2008-2009
1. (4/5) Introduction:
2. (4/12) Stars in the Crises
3. (4/19) The 'Subprime' Crisis: Overview,
4. (4/26) Foreign Exchange Rate System
5. (5/10) Macroeconomics
Lecture Note: Financial Crisis and Macroeconomics
More detailed discussion of the Old Keynesian models:
Aggregate Demand I
Aggregate Demand II
Aggregate Demand in the Open EconomyGreg Mankiw, Macroeconomics, 6th ed. Worth Publisher
6. (5/17) Review of Major Issues - Reading List
7. (5/24) Update 2010
8. (5/31)
9. (6/7) Update 2011
10. (6/14) Summary of PART I
PART II: Students' Presentations
II-A. Energy Policy
11. (6/21) student presentation 1 (Thomas, Elyes, Jimmy)
12. (6/28) student presentation 2 (Yechen, Boon, Bowon)
Sources (samples):
Japan’s Energy Policy (Federation of the Electric Power Companies of Japan)
Japan’s Energy Policy and Its
Implications for the Economy
Agency for Natural Resources and Energy
Google Scholar – Japan Energy Policy
Japan Nuclear Crisis and Energy Future
Approach
1. How do people in your country get energy?
2. Explain your country’s energy policy
3. What are the people’s opinions in your country about nuclear energy? Did they change after Japan’s Fukushima accident?
4. Is it worth investing your money into natural – recyclable energy?
II-B. Students' Job Search and Youth Unemployment
13 (7/11 Monday) student presentation 3 (Yechen, Narut, Fumio)
14 (7/12) student presentation 4 (Eutteum, Bowon, Soojin)
Sources (samples)
Youth Employment in Japan’s Economic Recovery: ‘Freeters’ and ‘NEETs’
BW: The Youth Unemployment Bomb
How is suicide different in Japan?
Approach:
1. Compare Japan and your countries in college students’ job search
2. What is considered to be the most important reason for the youth unemployment in Japan and your countries?
3. There are conflicts of interests between generations. What do you theink?
4. What do you think should be done to improve the situation?
15. Final Exam - Takehome
Take-home Final Examination (New !!!)
Extra Readings
Del Negro et al (2010) The Great Escape?
Blanchard et al (2010) Rethinking macro policy
Kocherlakota (2010) Modern Macroeconomic Models as Tools for Economic Policy
Gauti Eggertsson (2006) Fiscal Multipliers and Policy Coordination
Nouriel Roubini proposes a very pessimistic view: Return to the Abyss
Martin Feldstein: Why Greece will default
Heizo Takenaka: Is Greece Japan’s Future?
Dani Rodrik: Greek Lessons for the World Economy
Krugman says that leaving the euro is inevitable for Greece: Greek End Game
Gilles Saint-Paul: Is the euro a Failure?
Eichengreen: The euro: love it or leave it?
Willem Buiter: Fiscal dimensions of central banking: The fiscal vacuum at the heart of the Eurosystem and the fiscal abuse by and of the Fed: Part 1
Richard Baldwin: Buiter’s warning: Who is the recapitaliser of last resort for the ECB?
Cavallo and Cottani: Making fiscal consolidation work in Greece, Portugal, And Spain: Some lessons from Argentina
Ross Levine: An autopsy of the US financial system: Accident, suicide, or negligent homicide?
Dani Rodrik: The Case Against International Financial Coordination
Dani Rodrik: The End of an Era in Finance
Kenneth Rogoff: All for One Tax and One Tax for All?
Cesa-Bianchi et al: The ugly truth about a renminbi revaluation for Latin America
Ranciere et al: An international perspective on the US bailout
Interview to Rajan (2010) Economic seer says US not addressing cause of crisis
Calzolari et al: Multinational banks: They did not run away during the crisis
Ricardo Caballero: Understanding the global turmoil: It’s the general equilibrium, stupid
Guillermo Calvo: Should we rush to further regulate financial institutions?
Dani Rodrik: The Return of Industrial Policy
Supplementary - Japan's Low Fertility
The lecture and discussion will be based on
Rosenbluth (ed.) (2007), The Political Economy of Japan's Low Fertility, Stanford UP, pp. 1-222.
Estevez-Abe (2008), Welfare and Capitalism in Postwar Japan, Cambridge UP, pp. 1-349.
Lecture: Women's Economic Status and Fertility (Ch. 2 of Rosenbluth)
Lecture: The Puzzle of Japan's Welfare Capitalism (Introduction of Estevez-Abe)