The current policy stance of the BOJ has an automatic stabilizer element in it despite the fact that we have hit the zero rate bound. That is to say, the promise to "keep the zero rate until deflationary concerns are over" puts downward pressure on long-term interest rates when people see...

Remarks at the Japan Society, New York City.

One of the primary motivations offered by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) for its quantitative easing program -- whereby it maintained a current account balance target in excess of required reserves, effectively pegging short-term interest rates at zero -- was to maintain credit extension by the...

Japan’s economy has problems that, undoubtedly, are more complex than monetary policy might be expected to solve. But other kinds of policy actions stand a better chance of success when monetary policy is transparent. Transparency means that market participants’ anticipations of central bank...

The success, or lack thereof, of the Bank of Japan's quantitative easing program is of interest not only as an important experience in Japanese economic history, but more generally as an unprecedented experiment in monetary policy under very low nominal interest rates. In this Economic Letter, I...

The goal of monetary policy as conducted by the Bank of Japan is to contribute to the sound development of the national economy through the pursuit of price stability. The objective of price stability, however, is not precisely defined as it has been for other central banks. Following the...

Remarks at the Japan Society, New York City.

This paper examines Japan's experience in the first half of the 1990s to shed some light on several issues that arise as inflation declines toward zero. Is it possible to recognize when an economy is moving into a phase of sustained deflation? How quickly should monetary policy respond to sharp...