Japan’s longest serving ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, once described as “one of the world’s most recognisable statesmen” by the Financial Times, was gunned down on July 8 at the age of 67. While tributes poured in for Abe from Japan as well as other parts of the world, what exactly is the economic legacy of a man who gave his name to an economic policy approach?
Japan’s longest serving ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, once described as “one of the world’s most recognisable statesmen” by the Financial Times, was gunned down on July 8 at the age of 67. While tributes poured in for Abe from Japan as well as other parts of the world, what exactly is the economic legacy of a man who gave his name to an economic policy approach? Here are four charts which try to answer this question.
“Abenomics” gave a small boost to the Japanese economy …
The Japanese economy entered a prolonged recession from the 1990s, much before Abe took office. He had two terms as the prime minister, the first one from 2006 to 2007 and then from 2012 to 2020. When Abe came to power for the second term he unleashed an economic doctrine called “Abenomics” which included easy monetary and fiscal policy along with structural economic reforms. Abe’s second term in office was also the time when Japan was trying to rebuild its economy from the vestiges of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which killed about 20,000 people, and led to the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactors. (https://reut.rs/3zderZs)
His approach helped Japan to combat the immediate economic crisis, but growth rates remained lower than historical levels. Japan’s real GDP grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 0.94% in Abe’s term — this includes 2012 to 2019 excluding the pandemic year — which is higher than the 0.16% growth between 2005 and 2012. However, GDP growth during Abe’s term was marginally lower than the five year CAGRs of 1.04% and 1.19% in the late 1990s and early 2000s, respectively, and far lower than 4–5% growth seen in the1980s
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