ABSTRACT

Lars Svensson gave an overview about the progress economists have made in understanding the effects of monetary policy, the role of the institutional framework and the advantages and disadvantages of different monetary policy strategies. I shall present some experiences from Japan. Monetary policy in Japan is of particular interest, as the Bank of Japan has been confronted with several very serious challenges, in particular an asset price bubble in the 1980s and a longlasting problem of deflation in the 1990s. I shall also highlight the relevance of some institutional factors which played an important role for the monetary policy in Japan.