TOPICS

The Second Research Seminar of the College of International Relations in 2014 was held on the 17th of June 2014, at Koshinkan Room 733. Professor OHTA Hideaki, a specialist in International Finance, International Economics and International Development Finance, gave a presentation on “The Effects of Monetary Policy on the Real Economy and the Monetary Market in Japan”. In his presentation, Prof. OHTA provided a quantitative analysis of the Bank of Japan (BOJ)’s Monetary Easing Policy, demonstrating its inefficiency. In particular, he argued that it has become ineffective due to increasing foreign capital flows, and that it had no positive effects in terms of bank lending and monetary market, as well as real economy (GDP and production), while even having negative effects on production. He highlighted the larger influence that capital flows have on the domestic markets and the real economy, as well as the increasing interconnectedness between the BOJ account and the US share prices and money stocks. Finally, he proposed some suggestions in order to address the shortcomings of the current Japanese financial situation, such as the possibility of the constitution of a global coordination, the need for the Japanese authority to consider some exit strategies while minimizing the shocks, and the possibility that Japan introduces some capital management and regulation measures to regain its independence of monetary policy.