Thursday 9 July – Monday 18 April 2011
Emerging from the Global Financial Crisis: Lessons from Japan
Daiwa Foundation Japan House
Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
The global financial crisis originated primarily in the United States but has proven to be highly contagious and has spread rapidly through different sectors and countries. In sharp contrast with Japan’s financial crisis of the 1990s, the global nature of the current crisis has resulted in a shared sense of urgency and has led to prompt action by governments worldwide. However, despite massive write-offs by banks and insurance companies to date, the full scale of the losses are yet unknown. Depending on the recovery of the real economy, there is still a chance of further deterioration in financial markets.
This seminar looked to the past and the future in assessing the key issues relating to financial crisis management; what can be learned from the Japanese experience and what may the future hold for Japan and the global economy.
About the contributors
Professor Mariko Fujii
Mariko Fujii has been Professor of Economics and Finance at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo since 2001, where she specialises in asset pricing, empirical research on financial markets and financial regulation. She joined the Ministry of Finance in 1977 where, among her various roles, she served as Director of the Office of Investment Management, Securities Bureau (1996-97); and Director of the International Research Division, Customs and Tariff Bureau (1997-99). She is co-author of “Financial Economics-Theory of Portfolio Selection and Asset Pricing”(2000) and “Modern Finance Theory”(2005), both in Japanese and with Yukio Noguchi. Her latest book “Financial Innovation and Market Crisis” (in Japanese, Kinyu Kakushin to Shijo Kiki) was published by Nikkei Publishing in May 2009. Professor Fujii is a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge (May to July 2009).
Kazuhiko Koguchi
Kazuhiko Koguchi is Minister (Finance), Embassy of Japan, London. He joined the Japanese Ministry of Finance in 1981. Among his various roles, he has served as Director of the Central Asia Team, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (1998); Counsellor in the Customs and Tariff Bureau (2002); Director of the International Organisations Division, International Bureau (2005), in charge of the G8 Summit and meetings of G7 and G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors; and Counsellor in the Cabinet Secretariat, in charge of the Overseas Economic Cooperation Council (2006).
Andrew Smithers
Andrew Smithers(chair) founded Smithers & Co., a leading advisor to investment managers on international asset allocation, in 1989. Prior to starting Smithers & Co., he was at S.G. Warburg from 1962 to 1989. He has been a regular contributor to the London Evening Standard and Sentaku Magazine, writes regularly for the Nikkei Kinyu Shimbun and his OpEd pieces are included periodically in the Financial Times. He is co-author of “Valuing Wall Street” with Stephen Wright (2000), and “Japan’s Challenges for the 21st Century” with David Asher (1999). His latest book “Wall Street Revalued – Imperfect Markets and Inept Central Bankers” is due to be published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in July, 2009. He became a Trustee of The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation in 2008.