International conference: "Asian Economic Panel Meeting"
September 6-7, 2009
The Asian Economic Panel Meeting took place September 6-7, 2009 at the Keio University Mita Campus. This international conference is a venue for deliberations on Asian policy, centered on Asian studies researchers and research organisations. The meeting had a total of 13 presentations, including three special reports.
The presentations included discussions from various angles on responses to the subprime financial crisis, which had a severe impact worldwide from fiscal 2008, considering economic theory and the opinions of the policy authorities engaged in actual implementation. In particular, the presentations by Takehiko Nakao of the Ministry of Finance International Bureau and Yosuke Kawakami of the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Japan clarified Japan’s actual response to the subprime financial crisis as well as the current conditions in Asia.
The Asian presenters and panel members included former Thailand’s Minister of Finance Chalongphob Sussangkarn, Indonesia Stock Exchange Chairman (and former Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor) Anwar Nasution, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kiyohiko Nishimura, Australian National University Professor Warwick McKibbin and other policymakers and economists from each country, who engaged in lively discussions.
From the Keio University/Kyoto University Joint Global COE program, Keio University Professor Naoyuki Yoshino presented research on an economic model which explains the linkage between public policy and the issuance of government bonds, especially under Liberal Democratic Party administrations, and Kyoto University Institute of Economic Research Professor Makoto Yano spoke on the topic of “Avoiding Another Subprime-type Crisis in Financial Markets.” These presentations elicited vibrant debate concerning the prior related research on market quality.
Other papers examined the subprime debacle which became a global financial crisis, the influence on tax revenues from piracy and infringements in the Asian region, foreign direct investment and the independence of bilateral trade within Asia, technology development and employment in China, a new composite index to measure economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region, how big shopping malls affect poverty reduction in India, and an experimental economics approach to trade negotiations, with lively exchanges of opinions among the participants.
