Intel Barter

Coping with Crisis: Financial Policy in the U.S. and Japan

The Center on Japanese Economy and Business. Columbia Business School and The Program for Economic Research presented a forum, consisted of five accomplished economist and professionals; Heizo Takenaka, Patrick Bolton, Takatoshi Ito, Merit E. Janow, and David E. Weinstein.

Evenings discussion consisted of topics covering private sectors and political actions taken in past and present. In comparing the situations of the U.S. and Japans economics and their crisis, several things were made clear. Structures of each economies of the two respective countries are very different and suffer from economic crisis from different conflicts far contrasting from each-other, these were not discussed in detail but several key points were made clear.

Organizations setup looking over the private sector operations in U.S. and Japan vary in size and power, but this is due to contrasting economic structures and government policies. In the U.S. we have large, heavily invested and diversified commissions, where in Japan it is equality invested but lesser in size and power; and there is a balance in each.

Similarities which exist in both economies are quite interesting. Apart form operating structures and policies, several beginning and endpoints are the same. Application of the economic sectors serve similar purposes, and the populous economic participation is based on the prospects of capitalism. In both countries points A and B are the same, but getting there are completely different paths.

When Japan hit the economic recession in the 1990’s, United States urged Japan to take actions based on U.S. policies. But this was not applicable in reality because the Japanese system could not enforce such actions because it would not have made sense. Now we are facing similar economic crisis and we are trying to learn from Japans history, but nothing seems to be coming out of it; Because we are a separate variance.

Another topic discussed is that of government officials. Displaying that policies are not the problem, but rather the people behind creating and enforcing them. While this can be a subject of great dissection, it is important to understand that government has to consider the country and cannot narrow its policies based on the direct and prospering needs of the financial institutions and the entirety of the private sectors. Because it must look after the myriad of interest containing the country as a whole.

At the end of the day we are a capitalist economy, and we have rights to our individual pursuits. We must all participate in the economy through the most effective way and form, balancing the benefits for both ourselves and the system.