FSI researchers consider international development from a variety of angles. They analyze ideas such as how public action and good governance are cornerstones of economic prosperity in Mexico and how investments in high school education will improve China’s economy.
The Foreign Exchange Origins of Japan's Economic Slump and Low Interest Rate Trap
Japan's macroeconomic problem has yet to be properly diagnosed. Throughout the 1990s, policy makers could not decide on the proper macro economic measures to combat the country's severe economic slump. We propose a unified explanation, with deep historical roots, of why aggregate private demand failed to recover after Japan's stock and real estate bubbles burst in 1991 and deflationary pressure continues into the new millenium. Ron McKinnon is William D. Eberle Professor of International Economics at the Department of Economics, Stanford University. His research interests cover trade and financial policy in less-developed countries, the transition from socialism in Asia and Eastern Europe, the foreign exchange market and U.S.-Japan trade disputes, European monetary unification and international monetary reform, and the economics of market-preserving federalism. Rishi Goyal is a Ph.D graduate student in international economics working with Professor McKinnon on a Japan project--and will be writing his dissertation in this area. His undergraduate B.A. (with distinction) is from Swarthmore College in 1995. He expects to complete his Ph.D in 2001.
Okimoto Conference Room, Encina Hall, East Wing, Third Floor
Ronald I. McKinnon
Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall, Room E301
Stanford, CA 94305-6055
Ronald McKinnon is the William D. Eberle Professor of International Economics at Stanford University. Currently, he is researching trade and financial policy in less-developed countries, the transition from socialism in Asia and Eastern Europe, the foreign exchange market and U.S.-Japan trade disputes, European monetary unification and international monetary reform, and the economics of market-preserving federalism.
Recent books by McKinnon include The Order of Economic Liberalization: Financial Control on the Transition to a Market Economy, 2nd edition (1993); The Rules of the Game: International Money and Exchange Rates (1996); and Dollar and Yen: Resolving Economic Conflict between the United States and Japan (with K. Ohno, 1997). Recent (1997) articles include "Credible Liberalizations and International Capital Flows: The Overborrowing Syndrome" (with H. Pill); "The East Asian Dollar Standard, Life after Death?" (1999); and "The Syndrome of the Ever-Higher Yen: American Mercantile Pressure on Japanese Monetary Policy" (with K. Ohno and K. Shirono, 1999). McKinnon teaches international trade and finance, economic development, money and banking, and financial control in developing and transitional socialist economies.