Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • June 2018
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Japan: Deficits, Deflation and Debt

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:33
ShareBar

Abstract

In April 2018, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was again in Washington to petition Donald Trump. After years of rapid, export-led growth, Japan had slumped into recession in 1991 and never really recovered. For the past 27 years, its economy has grown at 1.1% annually, plagued by deflation. After several attempts at quantitative easing, Abe had commenced a radical program in 2012 called Quantitative and Qualitative Easing—the first of “three arrows” to repair the Japanese economy. But in early 2018, inflation was still far below the 2% goal, growth had turned negative, and Abe faced the highest debt among the OECD. Together with demographic, energy, and security problems, Abe had his hands full, while President Trump roiled the waters in China and North Korea.

Keywords

Deflation; Debt; Country Analysis; Monetary Expansion; Population Growth; Inflation and Deflation; Borrowing and Debt; Economy; Energy; National Security; Japan

Citation

Vietor, Richard H.K., and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason. "Japan: Deficits, Deflation and Debt." Harvard Business School Case 718-063, June 2018.
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Richard H.K. Vietor

→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • August 2024 (Revised November 2024)
    • Faculty Research

    Commonwealth Fusion Systems: Born at Scale

    By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Kyle Myers, Gunnar Trumbull and Richard Vietor
    • May 2024
    • Faculty Research

    Deficits and Debt: The U.S. Current Account

    By: Laura Alfaro and Richard Vietor
    • May 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Uruguay: South America's Singapore?

    By: Richard Vietor
More from the Authors
  • Commonwealth Fusion Systems: Born at Scale By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Kyle Myers, Gunnar Trumbull and Richard Vietor
  • Deficits and Debt: The U.S. Current Account By: Laura Alfaro and Richard Vietor
  • Uruguay: South America's Singapore? By: Richard Vietor
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.