Take-home Final Examination
Japanese Economy in Transition
2021/07/03
Answer to all the questions. The answers must be simple and short. A simple copy of my lecture note will be downgraded. Follow the following instruction.
1. Convert your file to a PDF format (.pdf). No other format will be accepted.
2. Name the file as <LAST-First-Course title> like <YAMADA-Taro-Economy>
3. Upload your pdf file to my JTW-economy folder at the file sharing system of the Kyushu University by Friday July 22. No late submission will be accepted
4. Do not send your work by e-mail. Do not bring it to my office in a USB memory. Thank you for your cooperation
A. Shinkansen
1. What are the major differences between the 3 Honshu JR companies and the 3 island JR companies?
2. How are the deficits of the 3 island JR companies financed by the government?
3. What is the main difference in the way to finance the shinkansen construction between the past and now?
4. What is the latest strategy of the JR Kyushu Corporation to raise revenues?
5. What is the 1st reason why local people oppose to the construction of a new shinkansen?
6. What is the 2nd reason why local people oppose to the construction of a new shinkansen?
7. Why is the JR Tokai Corporation willing to build the Linear Chuo Shinkansen, without any financial supports from the government?
B. Regional Gap in Europe, US, and Japan.
8. Regional income gap is smaller in Japan than in the EU. Why?
9. UKfs nominal GDP per capita is much higher than that of Japan, while its real GDP per capita is comparable to Japan. Why?
10. What is the Dutch disease, a leading explanation of the currency overvaluation?
11. The nominal GDP of Greece is overvalued. Why?
12. gThe EU is too big to be economically integrated, because there is too large price level gap.h Explain.
13. How did the creation of the Euro zone affect the immigrants to UK?
14. Tell me your opinion on the UK decision to leave the EU.
C. Coronavirus Pandemic and Japanfs Economy
15. What are the two major reasons why Japanfs government are unable to effectively mobilize medical resources toward caring the infected patients?
16. What are the major industries most severely damaged by the coronavirus pandemic?
17. When was Japanfs economy most seriously damaged by the coronavirus pandemic?
18. Why is the stock market boom a puzzle?
19. What is the first channel through which government policy creates economic bubbles?
20. What is the second channel through which government policy creates economic bubbles?
21. Why did the loan-to-deposit ratio decrease while the government induced banks to lend more to the industries damaged by coronavirus?
22. M3 suddenly rose in 2020. Why?
23. Why do service industries look like the rakugo gHanami-sakeh?
24. What are the investors afraid of?
25. What are the major differences between the 5th wave and the 6th the corona pandemic in Japan?
26. Why did the Kishida cabinet not take strong disease prevention policies?
27. Japanfs economic recovery seems to be later than the western countries. Why?
28. The current inflation seems to be caused by two reasons, What are they?
29. Why did the loan-to-deposit ratio suddenly decrease in Japan and the United states?
30. Japanese economy seems to be stagnating. However, there is no significant difference and the US if we consider the demographic change. What does this mean?
D. Growth Strategy
31. What is the definition of labor productivity?
32. What does gcreative destructionh mean?
33. What is the inconvenient truth of Japanfs labor market?
34. What are the two major ghigh value-adding sectorsh of the US?
35. What is the Baumolfs Cost Disease?
36. Baumol argues that even if medical care expenditures reach 60% of the GDP of the US, it is not a problem. Why?
37. What is the Singularity?
38. What is the fact that is consistent with the Singularity hypothesis?
39. What are the private benefits and costs of investment in higher education?
40. What are the public benefits and costs of investment in higher education?
41. Why is private return of higher education low while its public return is high in Japan?
42. Whey is private return of higher education lower for women than for men in Japan?
43. Why is running universities with public funds a redistribution from the economically weak to the strong?
44. Are the current university tuition fees too high or too low from the historical view point? Explain.
E. Read the following article and answer the following questions. How high-speed rail changes the spatial distribution of economic activity: Evidence from Japanfs Shinkansen
43. What is the gchicken and eggh problem of transport infrastructure?
44. What is the first question addressed by the first scenario of the two experiments? What city receives the largest benefit from the shinkansen construction?
45. What is the second question addressed by the second scenario of the two experiments? Does removing shinkansen enlarge Tokyo or Osaka?
46. What implication can you derive from this simulation study?
F. Read the slide and answer the following questions.
50. Why is the new Covid-19 infection so high in Germany, while the boost vaccination is also high? You may discuss using sources not mentioned in the class.