2020 Reports

A Retrospective on Abenomics

Lincoln, Edward J.

Shinzo Abe became prime minister in January 2013 in part because he touted a three-pronged coordinated economic plan dubbed “Abenomics.” The goal was to restore the economy to two percent positive inflation and two percent average real GDP growth within two years. Now that he has stepped down, it is time to review his policies and their outcomes. This paper argues that he did not achieve the stated goal. The original set of policies was well conceived, but the policies were not really coordinated and were not aggressively pursued.