JICA Chair Special Lecture “High Growth of Postwar Japan” by Takashi Matsumoto, President of the National Federation of Public Employees’ Mutual Aid Associations, was held at the University of Panama, Panama, on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, and at the Universidad Católica, Ecuador, on Friday, April 21, 2023.
After joining the then Ministry of Finance (now Ministry of Finance) in 1976, President Matsumoto was involved in national budgeting for many years, including as the Chief Budget Officer in charge of the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector and Deputy Director General of the Budget Bureau, and served as the Administrative Vice Minister of the Cabinet Office. He recently gave a face-to-face lecture with the aim of sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience in economic and fiscal policy with the younger generation of developing countries, university teachers, and others.
Key messages from the lectures at both universities are as follows
Japan’s postwar economic growth was achieved on a foundation of policies and laws such as the Fiscal Investment and Loan Program and the Income Doubling Plan.
While the balanced budget policy of the U.S. banker Dodge constrained Japan’s finances for a long period of time, Japan created the Fiscal Investment and Loan Program and flexibly used this program to meet its financing needs for economic growth.
It is the “animal spirit,” as Keynes put it, that achieves economic growth, as well as the “unleashing of the creative power of the people,” as Osamu Shimomura pointed out.
The key to Japan’s postwar economic development lies in the fact that people worked hard with creativity, and that politicians of each era exercised strong leadership and implemented timely and appropriate economic and fiscal policies in order to create an environment that enabled such creativity to flourish.
The conditions for creating an environment that enables creativity to flourish vary from country to country and from era to era, and economic and fiscal policies need to be formulated according to the circumstances.
While the conditions for fostering “the creative power of the people” and “animal spirit” vary from country to country, the most basic principle is “no poverty to catch up with earning.
Panama
This was the second JICA Chair Lecture in Panama, co-hosted by the School of Public Administration of the University of Panama (“UP”) and the Panama Office. Approximately 90 people, including the Vice President of UP, the Dean of the School of Public Administration, students and faculty participated in person, and approximately 35 people participated via online delivery, for a total of 125 participants.
In the lecture, along with the key messages mentioned above, he also introduced that considering Panama’s income level, the country is now at the stage of tackling various social issues such as the environment and the correction of inequality, and that JICA is cooperating in these issues as well as expecting further development of the country’s economy.
During their stay in Panama, they met with Mr. Almengol, Vice Minister of Finance for Economy and Finance, and exchanged views on the current state of the Panamanian economy. They also had a two-hour discussion with the Dean and about 10 faculty members of the UP Faculty of Economics about Japan’s rapid economic growth, the current state of the Japanese economy, and issues in the education sector in Panama. The participants exchanged views on the current state of the Panamanian economy.
Ecuador
Universidad Católica is one of the top universities in Ecuador, producing senior officials in the Ministry of Finance and other key government officials. In addition to professors and students from the Faculty of Economics, the lecture at the University was attended by around 160 people from outside the university, including officials from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Diplomatic Academy, and the Ministry of Finance.
The lecture was followed by a panel discussion in which the Vice President of the Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Economics of the University of Cattolica (former Governor of the Central Bank), and Faculty of Public Administration of Cattolica University participated to discuss measures to generate “human creativity” (= “animal spirit” in Keynesian terms), which is the basis of economic growth, the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth, and other issues. The participants discussed the impact of fiscal policy, the development of economic and social infrastructure needed for economic growth, human investment, political stability, and other issues.
During their stay in Ecuador, they met with Mr. Jose Mantilla, Undersecretary of Public Finance at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Mr. Gustavo Camacho, Director of the National Fiscal Review Section, and others, and had a lively exchange of views on the current state of Ecuador’s public finances and future policies. In addition, they had a two-hour discussion with the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Economics at Universidad Católica and eight other faculty members (including Professor Mateo, former Governor of the Central Bank, who participated in the panel discussion).
Evaluation and future efforts, etc.
In Panama, participants expressed their appreciation and asked many questions about Japan’s development experience, indicating a high level of interest in Japan’s development experience. After the lecture, students lined up for a commemorative two-shot photo with the lecturer, Chancellor Matsumoto, and his message was well received by the students.
By holding an exchange of opinions between Chair Matsumoto and Panamanian experts (Vice Minister and faculty from the Faculty of Economics) before and after the lecture, the lecture was more in line with the local context and provided an opportunity to build relationships with opinion leaders. We will continue to work to make the activities of the JICA Chair and the SDGs Global Leaders Course available to local faculty and others.
In Ecuador, the lecture hall was filled to capacity and the audience appeared to be extremely enthusiastic. The country’s economic growth has been stagnant for nearly a decade, and the theme of fiscal policies adopted by Japan to achieve economic growth seems to have attracted a lot of interest. After the lecture, we received requests for opportunities to share Japan’s development experience on other topics as well, and we will continue our efforts as JICA chair in the future.
© Source JICA