From an economic perspective, the 1990s in Japan are commonly called the "lost decade." After the asset price bubble burst, the entire banking sector slipped into a crisis, with the combined losses totaling 40 trillion yen by 2001. For Japan's economy, this meant a decade of stagnation and a severe setback for its global competitiveness.

Major industry and government investments into research and development helped Japan to recover in subsequent years and set the stage for a robust 5-year growth period between 2002 and 2007.

Sustained stability, however, has not been achieved. This became clear during the past two years, when the global crisis led to a dramatic decline in the country's economic development, triggering once again one of the worst post-war crises. The strongly export-dependent economy was slowed down in particular by the slump in global trade and has been in recession since. Citing neglected structural reforms in the Japanese economy, there is some talk already about a second lost decade.

The Summit Lecture debate will focus on three questions: How did politicians and executives manage the crisis in Japan in the 1990s? What are the structural (misguided) developments that its economy is suffering from? And how can it cope with today's global crisis?

The goal is also to draw possible parallels between the Japanese financial crisis in the past and today's global banking and financial crisis to deduce lessons and strategies for managing the crisis.

Speakers

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