The Abenomics economic policy program pursued by Prime Minister Abe Shinzō during his second term in office (2012–20) consisted of three “policy arrows.” The first of these was bold monetary easing. Following the 2008 global financial crisis, governments around the world embarked on programs of deep monetary easing, but Japan alone remained committed to a more conservative stance. As a result, each time the US Federal Reserve Board announced a fresh round of massive quantitative easing, the yen climbed in value against the dollar. By the time it broke through the ¥80 to the dollar barrier, Japan’s export ... (full story)