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

Lessons from the lost decade

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