The Growth Experience of Japan – What Lessons to Draw?

The Japanese economy experienced very rapid growth in the 1960s, but this growth significantly decelerated in the early 1970s. It is generally accepted that the growth potential underwent a ‘kink’, though the reason for this is still actively debated. Then, the economy showed a real growth rate of around 5 per cent on average for about 20 years. In the 1990s, however, the economy has been quite sluggish, and concerns are voiced whether Japan’s growth potential has undergone another downward kink.