International Education Week Brings Japanese Economist to Campus

Photos By: Melanie Cannon

   In celebration of University of Cincinnati’s International Education Week, the Department of Economics sponsored a lecture given by Toshihiro Matsumara, a professor of economics from the University of Tokyo on Thurs., Nov 19. The lecture, “The Rise and the Challenges of the Japanese Economy,” was given to faculty, students and community members in Tangeman University Center.

A professor at the Institute of Social Science at University of Tokyo, Matsumara is also a member of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the government entity responsible for deciding industrial policy in the country.

Toshihiro Matsumara is a professor at University of Tokyo and a member of Japan's METI. He spoke at UC about the public and private sectors in Japan.

His lecture focused on the Japanese economy, its history and the cooperation between the government sector and private business. Matsumara used the automobile and electric power industries as examples of how public and private can do good for the economy.

“The government played a limited but important role as a competitor to the private sector,” Matsumara said. “If the private sectors perform poorly, they receive the intervention of the government.”

It’s that balance of the government and private sector that helped spur the Japanese economy, he continues. “Competition between public and private sectors yielded dynamism of Japanese economy.”

He used the Japanese model to bring context to the current debate in the U.S. about creating a public option for healthcare.

“In Japan, the main part of medical insurance is provided by the public sector, and at the same time non-profit insurance companies play important roles as competitors of large profit-maximizing private insurance companies.”

Matsumara went on to say that it’s possible to interpret President Obama’s healthcare reform as a way to bring about reasonable insurance prices because of the competition the public sector could place on insurance companies.

He also discussed the challenges of the Japanese economy, and how lobbying by private business to the government has hindered economic growth.

After his lecture, he answered questions from the audience about a variety of topics, including monetary policy, job prospects, international affairs and the future of Japan.

Debashis Pal, professor of Economics, attended the lecture and thought it was a successful event that covered a variety of disciplines.

“The event was very well received by the students,” Pal said. “I heard a lot of good things from the students. They really enjoyed it.”

The lecture was funded by the Taft Research Center, Hewett-Kautz Fund and the Department of Economics.