Demographic Changes and Macroeconomic Performance: Summary of the 2012 BOJ-IMES Conference Organized by the Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies of the Bank of Japan

The Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies (IMES) of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) held the 2012 BOJ-IMES Conference, entitled “Demographic Changes and Macroeconomic Performance,” on May 30 and 31, 2012, at the BOJ Head Office in Tokyo. The conference sought to shed light on the implication of demographic changes and their effect on macroeconomic performance. The conference involved some 110 distinguished participants from academia, international organizations, and central banks. The conference began with opening remarks, delivered by the Governor of the BOJ, Masaaki Shirakawa. The honorary adviser of IMES, Marvin Goodfriend (Carnegie Mellon University) gave the keynote speech. Otmar Issing (Goethe University Frankfurt) presented the Mayekawa Lecture. Thereafter five academic papers were presented, and the conference concluded with a policy panel discussion.