Hayashi and Prescott speculate that the anemic performance of the Japanese economy since the early 1990s can be understood in terms of how any "well functioning" private sector might react to an exogenous productivity shock. In particular, they downplay the role of monetary and financial factors in shaping Japan's "lost decade." But many view the monetary and financial developments in Japan as direct evidence of a " malfunctioning" financial sector: These developments include a steady decline in bank lending and the money multiplier unexpected declines in inflation (and even the price level); nominal interest rates that are close to zero; and massive infusions of liquidity by the Bank of Japan that seem to have no effect at all (a "liquidity trap"). The primary purpose of my paper is to show that the Hayashi-Prescott hypothesis is not inconsistent with these monetary and financial developments. To the extent that this is true, monetary and fiscal policies, or reforms directed exclusively at the banking sector, are unlikely to reestablish productivity growth. What is likely needed are economy-wide reforms that enhance the willingness and ability of individuals to adopt potentially disruptive technological advancements and work practices.
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Article provided by Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan in its journal Monetary and Economic Studies.
Volume (Year): 21 (2003) Issue (Month): 4 (December) Pages: 1-20 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
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Find related papers by JEL classification: E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy O53 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
David Andolfatto & Paul Gomme, 2003.
"Monetary Policy Regimes and Beliefs,"
International Economic Review,
Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 44(1), pages 1-30, February.
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