Business Economics and Public Policy

Hugh Patrick, Director for the Center on Japanese Economy and Business, was quoted in a Feb. 18th CNNMoney.com article, "Dawn of the dead banks."

An impressive group of speakers gathered at Columbia Business School last Thursday, February 5 for a symposium titled "Japan's Solar and Wind Ambitions: How Promising is the U.S. Market?" The event, organized by the Center on Japanese Economy and Business with the support of the Mitsui USA Foundation, marked the 10th anniversary of the Mitsui USA Foundation's sponsored symposia at Columbia Business School and was the first-ever to include a remote audience of Columbia Business School's alumni association in Tokyo via live webcast. Columbia Business School's Energy Club, Green Business Club, and Japan Business Association also cosponsored the event.

In the midst of a global economic crisis, it seems more relevant than ever to study factors that contribute to capital market strength and long-term economic growth in emerging economies around the world. On Tuesday, January 27, the Weatherhead East Asian Institute cosponsored a brown bag lecture with the Center on Japanese Economy and Business and the Harriman Institute titled "A New Approach to Law and Economic Development, with Reference to East Asia." The discussion focused on the findings presented in the recently released book, Law and Capitalism, which was coauthored by Columbia Law School Professors Curtis Milhaupt and Katharina Pistor.

The Japan Society, Nomura Holding America Inc., The Women's Bond Club of New York, and the Center on Japanese Economy and Business (CJEB) of Columbia Business School cosponsored the symposium, "America Has Voted: Impact of New U.S. President on Asian Markets" on January 29, 2009. Sitting on the panel were three distinguished speakers: Alicia Ogawa, Director of the Program on Alternative Investments at CJEB; David Resler, Managing Director and Chief Economist at Nomura Securities International, Inc.; and Jeffrey Young, Chief Economist at Platinum Grove Asset Management. Leslie Norton, Foreign Editor, Asia at Barron's moderated the discussion.

David Weinstein, Associate Director for the Center on Japanese Economy and Business, was quoted in a February 5th New York Times article, "Japan's Big-Works Stimulus Is Lesson."

Columbia Business School and Columbia Law School announced on January 7 a new joint proposal to stem foreclosures through loan modifications. The plan aims to facilitate mortgage modifications, and thus reduce foreclosures, by compensating servicers and removing some legal constraints.

Leading academics and experts gathered to examine the origins of the financial crisis and discuss what actions policymakers might take to prevent it from happening again.

The Center on Japanese Economy and Business (CJEB) and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) of Columbia University held a brown bag lecture titled "Financial Crisis: Impact on Japan and Lessons from Japan" on December 4 featuring Shijuro Ogata, former Deputy Governor of International Relations at the Bank of Japan.

Video available for the symposium "Lessons From the Japanese Bubble For the U.S." held on November 19 in New York.

The Program on Alternative Investments of the Center on Japanese Economy and Business and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute of Columbia University cosponsored the symposium "Lessons From the Japanese Bubble For the U.S." on November 19, 2008. Two hundred and sixty people attended to hear from three distinguished speakers on how the United States can learn from Japan's bubble experience and avoid its own "lost decade."