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• Supplement | HBS Case Collection | 2013

  Kinyuseisaku: Monetary Policy in Japan (C)

  Laura Alfaro and Hilary White

  Assuming office in December 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was determined to revive Japan's stagnating economy through an ambitious plan known as 'Abenomics.' Under the guidance of the newly appointed governor of the central bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, the Bank of Japan adopted quantitative easing as its new monetary policy, pledging to double the nation's monetary base in two years through the purchase of long-term government bonds. While Kuroda insisted that Japan needed to "use every means available" to combat deflation, critics wondered whether inflation would increase the nation's public-sector debt to unsustainable levels or outpace growth in wages. Furthermore, skeptics debated whether Prime Minister Abe was wise to make the Bank of Japan the key player in moving the nation toward economic growth. Others questioned whether, unlike in the past, the Bank of Japan would take the necessary steps to carry through with the policy.

  Keywords: Japan; inflation targeting; inflation; Abenomics; monetary policy; stimulus; quantitative easing; government bonds; Macroeconomics; Inflation and Deflation; Money; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Japan;

  Citation:

  Alfaro, Laura, and Hilary White. "Kinyuseisaku: Monetary Policy in Japan (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 713-086, May 2013.

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2013 (Revised from original 2012 version)

  Brazil's Enigma: Sustaining Long-Term Growth

  Laura Alfaro and Hilary White

  Over the past decade, Brazil's future as a leading world economic power appeared certain. An expanding middle class and commodity boom had fueled economic growth, with GDP growth hitting a peak of 7.5% in 2010. However, the high cost of conducting business in Brazil, known as "Custo Brasil," was hurting domestic manufacturing, while incoming foreign investments threatened to overwhelm Brazilian markets. Under President Dilma Rousseff, economic growth stagnated, and the Rousseff administration struggled to find the best balance between reducing inflation, maintaining a flexible exchange rate, and improving the competitiveness of Brazilian exports.

  Keywords: capital controls; inflation; Exchange rates; stimulus; competitiveness; productivity growth; foreign investment; infrastructure; Inflation and Deflation; Currency Exchange Rate; Brazil;

  Citation:

  Alfaro, Laura, and Hilary White. "Brazil's Enigma: Sustaining Long-Term Growth." Harvard Business School Case 713-040, April 2013. (Revised from original October 2012 version.)

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | 2013 (Revised from original 2011 version)

  Debt and Development in Jamaica

  Rafael Di Tella, Gunnar Trumbull and Natalie Kindred

  This case describes the economic development problems faced by the small Caribbean-island country of Jamaica over most of the past half-century. The Jamaican economy showed relatively strong growth in the 1960s but stagnated in the 1970s. By the end of that decade, Jamaica was forced to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for balance-of-payments support. Over the 1980s and early 1990s, the unpopular policy conditions associated with IMF loan programs made the Fund a lightning rod for criticism over Jamaica's lack of economic progress. Jamaicans celebrated the end of IMF borrowing in the mid-1990s, but a severe financial crisis later that decade created a new layer of economic problems. In 2010, in the context of the global economic downturn, Jamaica once again returned to the IMF for financing support. This case allows students to explore the complicated economic difficulties faced by Jamaica, which remains burdened by a self-reinforcing set of interrelated factors, including high public debt, a sluggish private sector, an inefficient public sector, poverty, and crime, among others.

  Keywords: History; Government Administration; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; International Finance; Crime and Corruption; Poverty; Private Sector; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Borrowing and Debt; Developing Countries and Economies; Jamaica;

  Citation:

  Di Tella, Rafael, Gunnar Trumbull, and Natalie Kindred. "Debt and Development in Jamaica." Harvard Business School Case 711-031, April 2013. (Revised from original April 2011 version.)

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