Over the Heisei era the Japanese economy was confronted with a multitude of uncharted challenges: the collapse of the economic bubble and nonperforming loan problem, the Asian currency crisis and consequent failure of major Japanese banks, population decline and low birthrates . . . Policy responses were by necessity experimental, often implemented without a clear idea of their outcome, and their effects persist even today. What can Japan's experience tell us about the creation and growth of asset bubbles? How can socioeconomic shifts influence real populations, and what might this mean? This volume, the third in the Examining Heisei Japan series, gathers together representative essays, contemporary analyses, and corresponding recommendations on economic issues which remain as relevant as ever in our current climate of renewed global economic uncertainty.