"Seeking Japan's Future Economic Model," A Panel Discussion in Tokyo

At first it was called the Lost Decade, and then it became the Lost Two Decades. What was lost? A sense of security, government credibility, pride, and confidence about future were lost. But since December 2012, led by Prime Minister Abe and the LDP, the government has undertaken aggressive monetary policies to tackle deflation, implemented a fiscal stimulus program, and focused on designing a reality-driven growth strategy. The first arrow was a success, but has natural limitations. The second arrow has yet to identify new categories for effective public spending …. and will soon bump up against its own ceiling as well. Inevitably, the key to long-term economic growth and fiscal sustainability is the third arrow -- growth and productivity-enhancing structural reforms. But does a suitable effective third arrow exist yet? And can Japan really reverse the deflationary trend of the past two decades? If so, what new economic model will emerge in that process? What factors will shape this new model, and what changes are likely to occur in the labor market and relationships among industry, investors, government, and society? What will Japan look like in 2030? Please join us for what is sure to be a rousing and active panel discussion with two of the most famous economists in town, Robert Alan Feldman, Chief Japan Economist at Morgan Stanley MUFG, and Takuji Okubo, Chief Economist at Japan Macro Advisors. Nicholas Benes, Chair of the ACCJ's Growth Strategy Task Force, will moderate. Panelists: ROBERT ALAN FELDMAN is the Managing Director and Chief Economist at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities. As part of Morgan Stanley's global economics team, he is responsible for forecasting the Japanese economy, financial markets and policy developments. He is member of several economic study committees of various ministries of the Japanese government, and is a commissioner of the Japan-US Friendship Commission. Mr. Feldman holds B.A.s in Economics and in Japanese Studies from Yale University and a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. TAKUJI OKUBO is the Managing Director and Chief Economist for Japan Macro Advisors Inc. He started his career at Goldman Sachs Japan as a junior economist in 1997 and was promoted to the position of a Senior Economist in 2000. He left the firm in 2003 to obtain a MBA degree from INSEAD and later joined Ph.D program in Finance at UPF, Barcelona. After obtaining a Master Degree in 2005, he left the program to join Merrill Lynch Japan in 2007 and then Societe Generale Japan in 2009 before he launched an independent research firm, Japan Macro Advisors (JMA), in 2012. Moderator: NICHOLAS BENES is the Chair of Growth Strategy Task Force at American Chamber of Commerce (ACCJ). Mr. Benes received his B.A. in political science from Stanford University, and a JD-MBA degree from UCLA, after which he worked at JP Morgan for 11 years. He has taken roles as a Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), and a member of the Financial Service Agency's Corporate Governance Renraku Kaigi, providing private sector input to the Ministry of Justice. He established "The Board Director Training Institute of Japan" (BDTI) in Japan in 2009. When: Thursday July 3, 6:30-9pm Where: Seminar Room (B1F), International House of Japan, 5-11-16 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-0032

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