Deep Dive Series: " JAPAN’S ECONOMY - COMING BACK OR FALLING SHORT?"
8:30-10:00 am, Wednesday, February 14, 2024
(The speech and Q & A will be in English.)
RICHARD KATZ: Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics In International Affairs
JESPER KOLL: Global Ambassador & Expert Director, Monex & Group Japan Catalyst Fund
Japan’s economy is the subject of intense international interest just now, not least because the Tokyo stock market has recently soared to thirty-year highs, the government of prime minister Fumio Kishida is taking aggressive measures to boost business entrepreneurship, and the Japanese economy appears finally to have broken free of stagnation and deflation. Japan’s economy is also looking vibrant compared with that of its giant neighbour, China, which is suffering from stagnating demand and deflation.
But is Japan really “back” in high gear or is the world’s third largest economy mainly basking in the sunlight generated by a “hot” stock market and booming portfolio investment inflows and by the shadows that have fallen over China’s economy (on which Japan depends heavily). Economic growth in Japan remains modest and is projected by the IMF to decline to 1 per cent in 2024 from 1.9 per cent in 2023.Above all, can Japan become an “entrepreneurial” nation in which innovation flourishes and catapults the economy onto a higher growth trajectory? Listen to our experts debate these and other key issues.
Richard Katz is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics In International Affairs, as well as a Special Correspondent for Weekly Toyo Keizai. He publishes a free blog called “Japan Economy Watch.” His new book on Japan (2023), The Contest for Japan’s Economic Future: Entrepreneurs vs. Corporate Giants, is about the growing opportunity to revive Japan’s economy through a restoration of entrepreneurship. It will be published in Japanese later this year. His essays and op-eds have been published in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and The International Economy. He has testified several times to Congressional committees. He also taught on Japan’s economy as an adjunct lecturer at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and at New York University.
Jesper Koll worked from 1985 as a research fellow at the University of Tokyo and the University of Kyoto before building his career in finance. He served as a Managing Director and Chief Economist for major US investment banks, JP Morgan Japan Securities and Merrill Lynch Japan Securities. He is an Expert Director at Japan-based Monex Group, an Investment Committee member of the Japan Catalyst Fund, and serves on the Board of Directors of OIST, the Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology.
Please indicate when signing up whether you will attend on-line or in-person.
In-person attendance
Members: 450 yen (including tax), coffee or tea included
Non-members: 1,650 yen (including tax), coffee or tea included
On-line attendance (via Zoom)
Members: free of charge
Non-members: 550 yen (including tax)
Details on how to join online will be sent to individual emails by Tues., February 13.
All participants can reserve at the reception desk by email front@fccj.or.jp.
Members should Log in to confirm attendance.
Payment by Non-Members must be made in advance by 3 PM, Tues., February 13.
No refund is available unless the event is cancelled by FCCJ.
Member reservations cancelled less than 24 hours before the event will be charged in full.
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