On Dec. 26, the current administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be entering its eighth year. He is now Japan's longest-ever serving prime minister and deserves much credit for turning the nation from the burned-out ruin it was in the post-bubble "lost decades" into a bastion of stability. Under Abe's team, Japan's economic policy pragmatism and political efficiency have become the envy of the world.
Unfortunately, in economic policymaking you are always only as good as your last policy decision. Global markets, technological progress and competitive human nature demand constant fine-tuning and new decisions. And for Japan, there is much that needs to, and can, be done to ensure that the newfound stability does not feed the next cycle of stagnation. Make no mistake — Abenomics was successful crisis management to end an era of stagnation and defeatism; now Japan must move beyond Abenomics to start a new era of confidence and sustained growth.
Specifically, here are my top two suggestions for economic policy actions that should raise significantly the chances of Japan's future prosperity, as well as Abe's historic legacy as economic policymaker.