Executive Summary
Assessment and Recommendations
Chapter 1. Overcoming the Global Crisis: The Need for a New Growth Model
-Japan's longest expansion of the post-war era is followed by its deepest recession
-The policy response to the crisis
-The short-term economic outlook
-The medium-term outlook: the need for structural reform
-Policies to promote growth and sustainability
-Annex 1.A1. Policy agreement upon the establishment of a coalition government
Chapter 2. Financial Stability: Overcoming the Crisis and Improving the Efficiency of the Banking Sector
-Why did the global financial crisis have relatively little direct impact on Japan's banking sector?
-Strong secondary shocks hit the financial sector
-Japan's policies to mitigate the impact of the crisis on the financial sector
-Beyond the crisis response: reforms to improve the regulatory architecture
-Addressing weak profitability in the banking system
-Policies to increase efficiency in the financial sector
-Conclusion
Chapter 3. The Fiscal Policy Response to the Crisis and Achieving Fiscal Sustainability
-The fiscal response to the crisis
-Past measures to improve the fiscal situation
-Policies to achieve fiscal sustainability
-Conclusion
Chapter 4. Health-Care Reform in Japan: Controlling Costs, Improving Quality and Ensuring Equity
-Major challenges facing the Japanese health care system
-An overview of Japan's health care system
-Containing the growth of health spending and financing it efficiently
-Enhancing the quality of health-care services
-Addressing imbalances in the provision of health-care services
-Maintaining universal coverage in a context of rising relative poverty
-Conclusions
Chapter 5. Improving the Policy Framework in Japan to Address Climate Change
-Japan's policy framework to address climate change
-Analysis of specific policy measures
-Japan's performance under the Kyoto Protocol
-Looking ahead to the post-Kyoto framework
-Conclusion