Showing 1 - 5 of 5
Is Takaichi Sanae the 'Iron Lady' of Japan?
Oped, Koichi Hamada, Published on 10/11/2025
» For the first time in its history, Japan's parliament has selected a woman, Takaichi Sanae of the Liberal Democratic Party, to be prime minister. In this sense, Ms Takaichi has already followed in the footsteps of her political idol, Margaret Thatcher -- the UK's first female PM. But whether she is remembered as Japan's own "Iron Lady" will depend on her ability to manage three key challenges: inflation, low female labour-force participation and a fraught geopolitical environment.
How nations can counter Trump's trade trickery
Oped, Koichi Hamada, Published on 10/05/2025
» Much has been written about US President Donald Trump's disastrous "reciprocal" tariffs, which, despite having remained in effect for less than 24 hours, roiled the stock market, drove up Treasury yields, and caused the dollar to depreciate. In fact, the tariffs that have so badly undermined markets' faith in the US were never reciprocal at all: they were entirely unilateral actions betraying a fundamental misunderstanding of economics.
The lasting legacy of Abenomics
Oped, Koichi Hamada, Published on 31/05/2024
» After the 1985 Plaza Accord pushed the yen's exchange rate sharply upwards, Japan's economy suffered a severe slowdown that proved mightily difficult to reverse. In fact, the only prime minister to oversee a period of consistent growth and high employment in the past three decades was Shinzo Abe, during his second term, which began in 2012.
Abe Shinzo, it seems we hardly knew you
News, Koichi Hamada, Published on 10/07/2023
» A year has passed since former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo was assassinated by a gunman during a campaign rally in Nara on July 8, 2022. Much like the assassination of US President John F Kennedy in Dallas in 1963, Abe's murder marked a watershed moment in Japan's history.
Who benefits from Trump's trade war?
Asia focus, Koichi Hamada, Published on 14/01/2019
» In 1950, the Canadian-born Princeton University economist Jacob Viner explained a customs union produces a "trade creation" effect, as lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers spur increased flows of goods among member countries.