Dr. Osamu Shimomura's Legacy and the Postwar Japanese Economy
Shimomura’s theory is not merely one of the pioneer works in macroeconomics, but also suits the economic conditions of Japan. Shimomura extends the principle of effective demand, which means that his theory includes effects of capital accumulation to production capacity. While one may argue that Harrod (1939) and Domar (1946) have already achieved that, Shimomura’s theory centers policy recommendations for sustaining the high economic growth against the productivity growth that would cause excess supply in the market.
Succinctly, Shimomura is a Keynesian who believes the vigor in its private sector but recognizes that Japanese economy urgently needs the government’s auxiliary macroeconomic policies. This book emphasizes that the rapid Japanese growth owes mainly to affluent entrepreneurship filled in the economy not to the sheer government’s planning. Dr. Shimomura’s theory endorses our assertion.
Masayuki Otaki is a professor of economics at the University of Tokyo Institute of Social Science, and academic advisor at the Research Institute of Capital Formation, Development Bank of Japan. His main areas of research are macroeconomic theory, environmental economics, educational economics, and economic thought. Born in 1957, Prof. Otaki received a Bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Tokyo in 1981 and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Tokyo in 1990. He was appointed professor of economics at the University of Tokyo Institute of Social Science in 2001.
