Lessons from Decades Lost: Economic Challenges and Opportunities Facing Japan and the United States

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies--dubbed Abenomics--have been successful on some but not all fronts. The Japanese government must still pursue policies to increase economic growth. This PIIE Briefing, released on the heels of Prime Minister Abe's election victory in December, calls on Japan, for example, to be flexible in the negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and to take steps to achieve fiscal sustainability over the medium and long term. The papers in this volume were presented at the first seminar of the High-Level Working Group on Japan-US Common Economic Challenges on June 3, 2014, and it includes an assessment of Abenomics by PIIE president Adam S. Posen. The initiative, launched by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, brings together distinguished economists and former government officials from both countries, providing a forum to illuminate important US-Japan issues and produce policy advice and research ideas. The second session of this Working Group was held on December 18-19, 2014 in Tokyo.