We usually only use this forum for our own events. In this special case let us point your attention to an event held by our co-operation partner Maison franco-japonaise:


Demographic Aging and Fiscal Sustainability in Japan: What to Tackle?
Social Security Reform and Macroeconomic Projection


Speaker Sagiri KITAO (The University of Tokyo)
Moderator Jean-Pascal BASSINO (French Research Institute on Japan - MFJ)


Japan leads all advanced economies in terms of aging and has the highest debt to GDP ratio. A rapid rise in government expenditures is expected during the next decades as the waves of baby boomers reach the retirement age. A macroeconomic model of multiple generations is constructed, which incorporates details of the social insurance programs (public pension, health and long-term care insurance) and demographic projections. The model is simulated to project the path of macroeconomic and fiscal variables and to explore what needs to be done to achieve fiscal sustainability. Although no single policy tool will be enough to achieve fiscal consolidation, a combination of policies could reduce the debt level significantly. Key factors include an increase in the retirement age, policies to propel female employment and earnings to the levels of their male counterparts, and a further increase in the consumption tax rate.


Sagiri KITAO holds an MPA/International Development from Harvard Kennedy School and a PhD from New York University.
She has held faculty positions at universities in the United States and Japan, and been a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. She is currently professor at the Graduate School of Economics of The University of Tokyo and a research associate at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan).
In 2016 she became the first woman to win the Nakahara Prize for her internationally recognised work.


For further information and directions please refer to www.mfj.gr.jp