While bringing unprecedented prosperity to post-war Japan, her "economic miracle" at the same time led to greater vulnerability owing to a much higher degree of dependency on raw material imports and outlets for export goods. This was brought home to the Japanese by events in the early 1970’s....

Supply security is threatened by technical, business, natural and policy shocks, as well as geopolitical tensions. Is there a rationale for policy intervention? If yes, what are efficient and effective measures that achieve de-risking? This article first explains why private incentives do not...