Population and the Japanese Economy: Longevity, Innovation, and Economic Growth

by Hiroshi Yoshikawa, Charles Stewart (Translator)

Japan, a country where population decline is progressing and the number of workers is decreasing. While the fiscal deficit continues to expand, rural regions are in a crisis of disappearance. Isn’t the decline of the nation already inevitable? Versus such preconceptions, economics which has struggled with population issues over many years responds “No!” Innovation holds the key to economic growth, and the fact that Japan is one of the world’s leading longevity societies poses an opportunity. This book sweeps away the “population decline pessimism” that has spread throughout Japan and approaches the real issues of the Japanese economy.

208 pages, Hardcover

First published August 19, 2016

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy to read, fairly simple examination of the subject, which I liked. The most important part is his explanation that it is growth PER CAPITA that is the most important measure of an economy, not GDP. Individuals can still enjoy an expanding standard of living while the rate of growth of the overall economy is declining. The key to that is growth in productivity, which applies to individuals' efforts, and the key to that is continual innovation. All of which remains imminently doable even in the face of a declining population.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's hard for me to summarize precisely the issues that came up while reading this text. The major issues revolve around the poor rigor and poorly justified beliefs the author had. Very opinionated and very unscientific.

There are a few concepts that I found substantiated and interesting, however, I would not recommend reading this book to find them.

[Reading]

《人口与日本经济》（日）吉川洋。