Advanced economies risk slipping into Japan-style 'lost decade'

Analysts have expressed concern that advanced economies in the West are slipping inexorably towards an extended period of deflation and low growth reminiscent of Japan’s infamous ‘lost decade’ of the 1990s. Credit reports on the steps US and European policymakers are taking to try and avoid such a fate.

Recession fears: the West must learn from Japan's mistakes in the 1990s

Fears of a double-dip recession in advanced economies are giving way to concerns over a less spectacular, but potentially more damaging scenario: a prolonged period of stagnant growth, severe unemployment and deflation, similar to that experienced by Japan in the 1990s.

After an unprecedented period of strong growth in Japan – the so-called “economic miracle” that began in the 1950s and continued for the next three decades – the country’s juggernaut economy finally ground to a halt in 1989. The