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Abstract:
With a declining population, Japan needs a strong export economy in order to incentivize domestic investment and reignite a virtuous cycle of wages and productivity. Currently, Japan has weak export performance compared to Korea or Germany. In order to catch up, Japan must A) provide a favorable macroeconomic environment, B) ensure sufficient financing, C) develop a culture of companies exporting independently, and D) draw greenfield platform investment from foreign countries. The last of these is very feasible due to Japan's global popularity and soft power, but it requires a mindset change.

Speaker: Dr. Noah Smith (Writer at Noahpinion)

Speakers’ Profile:
Noah Smith writes an economics-related newsletter called Noahpinion. He was previously a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, and an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook University. He did his PhD at the University of Michigan. He has lived in Japan for a total of four years, including between college and graduate school. He currently lives in San Francisco with his pet rabbit, Giggles.

Moderator: Yosuke Yasuda,  Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)

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What is GRIPS Forum?

Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) has promoted research and education on a wide variety of policy issues. The GRIPS Forum invites specialists from national and local governments as well as academic and business communities to promote policy studies and expand policy networks.