ABSTRACT
After an extended slump, often referred to as a “lost decade,” starting from the collapse of real estate and equity market prices in 1991, the Japanese economy is, at long last, showing signs of recovery. Although the growth rate, measured as the percentage change in real GDP, was very low during the 1990s, Japan retained its very high rank among the world’s industrial countries as the second largest producer of real goods and services (real GDP) in level as distinct from rate-of-change measures of real GDP. Today, even that position is threatened if Japan continues to grow slowly, as other countries, particularly China, continue on their rapid growth paths.1
