Tackling Japan’s Fiscal Challenges

HENRY J. AARON Bruce and Virginia MacLaury Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution, USA SHUN-ICHIRO BESSHO Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance, Japan ROBERT DEKLE Professor, Department of Economics, University of Southern California, USA DANIEL CITRIN Deputy Director, Asia and Pacific Department, International Monetary Fund, USA MASAYOSHI HAYASHI Principal Economist, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance, Japan PETER S. HELLER Deputy Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund, USA R. GLENN HUBBARD Dean, Dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Graduate School of Business and Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA TOSHIHIRO IHORI Professor, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo, Japan YUTAKI IMAI WIN Advisory Group, USA HIROMITSU ISHI Professor, Chuo University, Japan TAKATOSHI ITO Professor, Graduate School of Business and Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo, Japan YASUSHI IWAMOTO Professor, Department of Economics, University of Tokyo, Japan RYUTA RAY KATO Graduate School of International Relations, International University of Japan, Japan MASUMI KAWADE Faculty of Economics, Niigata University, Japan LAURENCE J. KOTLIKOFF Professor of Economics, Boston University, USA KENNETH N. KUTTNER Danforth-Lewis Professor of Economics, Economics Department, Oberlin College, USA HOWARD OXLEY Senior Economist, Health Division, Employment and Social Affairs Directorate, OECD, France EIJI TAJIKA Dean, Graduate School of International and Public Policy, Professor, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, Japan TOSHIKI TOMITA Professor, Faculty of Law, Chuo University, Japan ISAMU UEDA Senior Vice Minister of Finance, Ministry of Finance, Japan DAVID E. WEINSTEIN Professor, Department of Economics, Columbia University, USA YUJI YUI Dean, Department of Economics, Seijo University, Japan NAOYUKI YOSHINO Professor of Economics, Keio University, Japan

This book examines how Japan should cope with fiscal challenges, as demands on the budget from an ageing society have necessitated the reigning in of public debt and the revamp of the pension and healthcare systems. It combines insights from academic research with the views of policymakers to distil key issues that need to inform public debate.This book examines how Japan should cope with fiscal challenges, as demands on the budget from an ageing society have necessitated the reigning in of public debt and the revamp of the pension and healthcare systems. It combines insights from academic research with the views of policymakers to distil key issues that need to inform public debate.