Center on Japanese Economy and Business

Upcoming Event(s)

April 2023

Live Webinar
Series on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds
ESG Investing – Standard Setting and Pension Funds
Friday, April 7, 2023 | 8:00 – 9:00 AM (ET)
Friday, April 7, 2023 | 9:00 – 10:00 PM (Japan Time)

Panelists:
Tomoko Amaya, Vice Minister for International Affairs, Financial Services Agency, Government of Japan
Pedro Antonio Guazo Alonso, Representative of the Secretary-General for the Investment of the Assets, United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund
Jingdong Hua ’03SIPA, Vice-Chair, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)

Please note this webinar will be held under the Chatham House Rule. The recording of the event will not be made public.

Japanese Creativity in the Great Tech Race: Beneficiary or Victim?
Tuesday, April 11, 2023 | 12:30 – 1:30 PM (Lunch will be provided)
Room 640, Geffen Hall, Columbia Business School 

Featuring: Kyoko Matsushita, CEO, WPP in Japan
 

The Neglected Minority: The Science of Asians’ Bamboo Ceiling
Tuesday, April 25, 2023 | 12:30 – 1:30 PM (Lunch will be provided)
Room 640, Geffen Hall, Columbia Business School 

Featuring: Jackson G. Lu PhD '18, Sloan School Career Development Associate Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management

2023 CJEB Annual Tokyo Conference
The Need for Innovation: Digitalization, Sustainable Cities, and Reforming Higher Education
Monday, May 29, 2023 | 1:15 – 6:30 PM Japan Time (Reception to follow)
Presented by CJEB
Co-sponsored by the Development Bank of Japan Inc.
Venue: Otemachi Financial City Conference Center, Tokyo, Japan
Fee: 15,000 JPY | Simultaneous interpretation will be provided.

Register 

Click here for the agenda with the full list of speakers.

Please find a list of confirmed keynotes and panels below:

Keynotes:
His Excellency Taro Kono, Minister for Digital Transformation; Minister for Digital Reform; Minister for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety; Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform, Government of Japan (TBC)

Mary C. Boyce, Provost; Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University

Panels:
● Higher Education for Innovation
● Smart and Sustainable Cities

Read our 2021-2022 Annual Report

Visit our news feed for more articles.

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB’s Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, Was Interviewed on Bloomberg about the Bank of Japan’s Outlook

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB’s Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, appeared on Bloomberg and discussed his outlook for Bank of Japan's policy as the central bank concludes Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s final meeting this week.

Columbia University's Ito on BOJ Outlook (Bloomberg, 3/8/2023)

The Speech Given by Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masazumi Wakatabe at Cjeb’s Event Was Covered by Reuters, CNBC and Other Media Outlets.

The speech given by Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masazumi Wakatabe at CJEB’s event, "Seven Reflections on Japan's Economy, Monetary Policy, and the Bank of Japan," was covered by Reuters, CNBC and other media outlets. Some of their coverage can be found below.

BOJ's Wakatabe warns secular stagnation risk has yet to pass (Reuters, 2/27/2023)

Bank of Japan official reiterates support for 2% inflation target (CNBC, 2/27/2023)

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB's Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, Wrote the Article "The UN Must Not Be Powerless" for Project Syndicate

Professor Takatoshi Ito, director of CJEB's Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, wrote the Project Syndicate article "The UN Must Not Be Powerless." Professor Ito states in the article that, “The war in Ukraine has highlighted the shaky foundations of the international security order..."

The UN Must Not Be Powerless (Project Syndicate, 2/28/23)

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB’s Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, Quoted in Bloomberg Article “Kuroda Ally Ito Sees Chance of BOJ Starting Policy Normalization in 2023”

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB’s Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, was quoted in the Bloomberg Article “Kuroda Ally Ito Sees Chance of BOJ Starting Policy Normalization in 2023.” The article discusses how “The Bank of Japan may be able to step toward normalizing policy this year by achieving its sustainable inflation target, according to Takatoshi Ito.”

Kuroda Ally Ito Sees Chance of BOJ Starting Policy Normalization in 2023 (Bloomberg, 2/2/2023)

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB's Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, Wrote the Article "Japan’s Fiscal Dilemma" for Project Syndicate

Professor Takatoshi Ito, director of CJEB's Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, wrote the Project Syndicate article "Japan’s Fiscal Dilemma." Professor Ito states in the article that, "Soon after announcing his intention to pay for the planned increase in Japan’s defense budget by raising taxes, fierce opposition, including from his own party, forced Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to backtrack. But, to protect future generations, Japan must maintain fiscal prudence rather than continue to amass debt."

Japan’s Fiscal Dilemma (Project Syndicate, 1/31/23)

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB’s Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, was interviewed on Bloomberg about his views on the Bank of Japan’s policy adjustments.

JAPAN CENTER NEWS | December 21, 2022

BOJ Tweaks Could Be First Step Toward Exit, Takatoshi Ito Says (Bloomberg, 12/20/2022)

日銀の政策修正、積極緩和脱却に向けた最初の一歩も－伊藤隆敏氏 (Bloomberg, 12/21/2022)

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB’s Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, was interviewed on TV Tokyo.

JAPAN CENTER NEWS | December 20, 2022

日本のインフレ目標政策の10年～功罪と課題～【プロの眼】(TV Tokyo, 12/19/2022)

住宅ローン金利にも影響 日銀 大規模緩和を転換 (TV Tokyo, 12/20/2022)

Call for Papers for the Fifth Annual Conference of the Japan Economy Network

Columbia University, New York City, 23-24 March 2023

JAPAN CENTER NEWS | November 18, 2022

The Japan Economy Network (JEN) and the Center on Japanese Economy and Business (CJEB) at Columbia Business School invite submissions of papers and extended abstracts for the Fifth Annual JEN Conference. Submissions are encouraged in all areas relating to the Japanese economy, including, among others, monetary and fiscal policy; exchange rate policy; developments in Japanese banking and finance; perspectives on potential output; economics of climate change; demographic change; womenomics; inequality; labour markets; education; and economic history. Papers adopting a comparative perspective are welcome. Young scholars are particularly encouraged to submit their work.

Submission deadline is 9 December 2022. Please send your submissions to the following email address: [email protected]. The outcome of the selection process will be announced by 16 December 2022. Later submissions will be considered.

Get more information on the Fifth Annual Conference of the Japan Economy Network.

CJEB's event featuring Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB's Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, was covered by NHK World-Japan in the article "Professor Explains Why Japan’s Prices Are So Low" and in other media outlets.

JAPAN CENTER NEWS | October 6, 2022

CJEB's event featuring Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB's Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, was covered by NHK World-Japan in the article "Professor Explains Why Japan’s Prices Are So Low" and in other media outlets. The English and Japanese coverage is linked below. 

Professor explains why Japan's prices are so low (NHK World, 10/6/2022)

なぜ日本は“安く”なった？ アメリカで講演 専門家一問一答も (NHK News Web, 10/6/2022)

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB's Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, Wrote the Article " The Challenge of Monetary Tightening" for Project Syndicate

JAPAN CENTER NEWS | September 28, 2022

Professor Takatoshi Ito, director of CJEB's Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, wrote the Project Syndicate article "The Challenge of Monetary Tightening." Professor Ito states in the article that, "The US Federal Reserve’s latest interest-rate hike is just one more step on the long and difficult road away from quantitative easing. While the Fed and other central banks, such as the Bank of Japan, must complete the journey, governments must refrain from politicizing the pitfalls that await."

The Challenge of Monetary Tightening (Project Syndicate, 9/28/22)

Shogo Sakabe, a current student in the PhD Program in the Department of Economics, and a recipient of CJEB's Doctoral Fellowship, co-authored a paper that received the Homer Hoyt Institute Best Paper Award

JAPAN CENTER NEWS | August 11, 2022

Shogo Sakabe, a current student in the PhD Program in the Department of Economics, and a recipient of CJEB's Doctoral Fellowship, co-authored a paper titled "Place-Based Policies and the Geography of Corporate Investment" with Cameron LaPoint, a former Sumitomo Fellow and a PhD graduate from the Department of Economics, now an assistant professor of finance at Yale University School of Management.

He presented the paper at the AsRES-AREUEA Tokyo Conference, and it received the Homer Hoyt Institute Best Paper Award.

Professor Takatoshi Ito, Director of CJEB's Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, Wrote the Article "Abe Shinzō’s Unmatched Legacy" for Project Syndicate

JAPAN CENTER NEWS | July 12, 2022

Professor Takatoshi Ito, director of CJEB's Program on Public Pension and Sovereign Funds, professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, wrote the Project Syndicate article "Abe Shinzō’s Unmatched Legacy." Professor Ito states in the article that "As the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Japanese democracy, Abe Shinzō fundamentally transformed the country’s security doctrine and economic-policy trajectory. The foundation of reforms and alliances that he established will remain in place for many years to come."

Abe Shinzō’s Unmatched Legacy (Project Syndicate, 7/12/22) 

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