Has Japan Failed? Examining the role of the BOJ in post-crisis Japan

Abstract: Over the last 3 decades, Japan has suffered from persistent economic malaise which are without precedent in economic history, and as interesting as the circumstances leading to the demise of Japan as a major economic power are, they are but secondary to the mystery of the constant failure of measures to alleviate the situation. The question that this paper will attempt to answer, with the aid of advanced econometric tools is why the expansionary monetary policy measures taken by the Bank of Japan genuinely failed to stimulate the Japanese economy? The hypothesis I would like to outline is that the Bank of Japan DID fail to ameliorate the economic situation in Japan, due to several shortcomings such as a constant misunderstanding of the economic climate, the sudden drop in effective demand due to the emergence of Asian competitors, and the flawed policy of continually supporting insolvent banks.