The Development of the Japanese Financial System -Previous Financial Reforms and Japan's ''Big Bang"
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Authors
Maeda, Shoko
Issue Date
1998
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
A continuous sequence of financial changes - this is what the Japan's financial
sector has been going through for a half of this century. In my Senior Individualized
Project, characteristics of these changes in financial structures and financial regulations
are first introduced, classified by different economic phases-the high growth period (the
1950s- 1973), two oil crises (1974 and 1979), the internationalized period (the 1980s),
and the low growth period after the bubble burst in 1990. Now, after all these changes in
the history of Japanese finance, you may well wonder why Prime Minister Ryutaro
Hashimoto attempts to implement another financial reform. A replica of London's ''Big
Bang," which radically transformed the British securities markets on a single day in
1986, the Hashimoto plans-Japan's "Big Bang"-proposes to construct 'more
liberalized' financial markets and to create a 'fairer' trading regime than ever. Will this
reform become a true ''Big Bang," or just remain one of the repeated financial reforms
that often end prematurely and with unsatisfying results? This question still has to be
answered, since the complete implementation is still to be carried out. However, what
seems clear is that a sense of fear, confusion, and uncertainty is expressed by many, while
the government appears to be determined to carry out the reforms. The Big Bang may be
a superficial action by which the government tries to save its own "face" in the
increasingly globalized economy and financial markets. While this paper surely cannot
give definite answers to all these questions, it will provide a detailed description of the
elements of Japan's Big Bang and assessments of the possible positive and negative
outcomes of the recent reforms of financial system.
Description
vii, 131 p.
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