Prospects for Japanese Economic Reform

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Speaker
Heizo Takenaka, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy, Cabinet Office; Minister of State for IT Policy

Respondent
Maurice R. Greenberg, Chairman & CEO, American International Group, Inc.

Heizo Takenaka, the chief strategist behind Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s sweeping economic reforms, discusses his efforts to force real change on Japan’s long-suffering economy. Often a harsh critic of past Japanese administrations, Takenaka, a former economics professor at Keio University, was appointed amid much fanfare as state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy last April with the unenviable mission of reforming the nation’s finances. Seven months into the job, Takenaka gives his assessment of those reform efforts and discusses the outlook for Japan’s economy amid a global recession.

Lunch and lecture: $55, Japan Society members $45, students $25. Lecture only: $15, members $10.