This paper considers a range of issues affecting Japan's contemporary economic well-being. Japan has continued toward sustained, full-employment growth, though its path has been idiosyncratic and its pace has been erratic. GDP growth in 2006 was a respectable 2.2 percent, driven by business...

Introduction: A mere decade ago Japan’s financial system, and especially its banking system, was not only the largest but the strongest in the world. Nine of the world’s top ten banks in asset size were Japanese; the Big Four Japanese securities companies were the world’s largest; and its...