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Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien

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Venue

Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien
Jochi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F
7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 102-0094, Japan
Tel: 03 – 3222 5198, Fax: 03 – 3222 5420


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Registration Info

The presentation will be given in English. Since the event is a brown bag
seminar, feel free to bring your own lunch and drinks. The joint DIJ Business & Economics – and Social Science Study Group is intended as a forum for young scholars and Ph.D. candidates in the field of Business and Economics – and Social Science Studies. Everybody is welcome to attend, but kindly asked to register with busi.econ-studygroup@dijtokyo.org



What is the Problem with Economic Stagnation?

May 27, 2015 / 12:30 P.M. - 1.30 P.M.

Johannes Hirata, Osnabrück University of Applied Science

Low economic growth rates have led to desperate attempts to restore economic growth in Japan and several European countries. The necessity of restoring economic growth seems to be so obvious to politicians and to public opinion that few policy makers or academics care to justify this objective or to discuss alternatives. In this paper, I will critically discuss the main arguments that are typically made in favor of economic growth. I will then defend the hypothesis that the absence of economic growth would not create insurmountable problems if it were not for the widespread expectation of long-term economic growth.

Johannes Hirata is professor of economics at the Hochschule Osnabrück, University of Applied Sciences (Germany) and author of “Happiness, Ethics and Economics” (Routledge, 2011). He obtained his doctoral degree from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) in 2006 and was a visiting scholar in Brazil, Bhutan and the United States.

Related Research Projects

Risks and Opportunities - Japan's Challenges in the Face of an Increasingly Uncertain Future

Happiness in Japan: Continuities and Discontinuities