Masahisa Hayashi, Waseda University

Objectives of the Course
The conditions of national economy and international economy affect the welfare of the people enormously. This course will give the students to think hard how to improve our economic conditions by establishing right economic systems and formulating good economic policies. The learning of basic principle of economics is essential not only for leaders of the nation and the international community but also for ordinary citizens to understand a variety of economic problems taking place around them everyday.

Teaching Method
The international bestseller economics textbook for more than half a century, Paul A. Samuelson & William D. Nordhaus, Economics, 17th edition. McGraw-Hill is used as the basic reading material and the basis of discussion in the class. Many scattered reading materials are difficult to get, and a well-organized textbook is very useful for the comprehensive and effective learning.
To stimulate the discussion in the class, the relevant data on the Japanese economy will be provided in tables and graphs of Power Point and Excel. The stress is placed upon the discussion among the students taking the course rather than a one-sided lecture. As the students come from various parts of the world, the lively discussions are expected in a manner of international comparison in relation to the fundamental principle of economics covered in the lecture and on the basis of the relevant experiences of their home countries. Though the data on the Japanese economy will be provided as a reference, the course does not focus on the unique features of the Japanese economy per se, but the economic principles common to all the countries in the world will be discussed with the Japanese economy as one example among many economies in the world. Students may be asked to give a brief report on the conditions of their home countries in relation to the agenda covered in the class for the basis of the discussion.

Further Reading
Another international bestseller textbook of economics by Joseph E. Stiglitz & Carl E. Walsh, Economics, 3rd Edion. Norton $ Company is recommended for further reading. The list of the reference materials on the Japanese economy in English will be given after surveying their availability in the local libraries including the university library or in local bookshops.
For international comparison, not only the data on the Japanese economy, but also the OECD data will be used. The local availability of such data on internet or in printed materials will be surveyed in Venice after my arrival.

Examination Policy
The final grade will be based on the contributions to the discussions during class (40%) and the performance in the final written examination(60%).

In the final written examination, no written documents are allowed to be referred to including the textbook. The definition of basic technical terms and the brief explanation of the significance thereof in economic science will be asked. Then the students are asked to discuss the given economic questions logically using these well-defined technical terms and the relevant data and economic events to support the argument.

Schedule
1) Basic problems of economic organization
2) Markets and government in a modern mixed economy
3) Demand schedule and supply schedule and the market equilibrium
4) Elasticity of demand and supply
5) Demand and consumer behavior
6) Theory of production and analysis of costs
7) Costs and supply schedule
8) Efficiency and equity of competitive markets
9) Imperfect competition
10) Incomes and the pricing of factors of production
11) National income and product accounts
12) Aggregate demand and the multiplier model
13) Business cycles and unemployment
14) Fiscal policy
15) Monetary policy
16) Economic growth
17) Warring schools of macroeconomics
18) International trade and exchange rates
19) Strategies of economic development
20) Managing the global economy

Biography
First Degree in Social Science (International Christian University), Master and Doctorate in Economics (Hitotsubashi University). Professor at the Graduate School and Faculty of Social Sciences at Waseda. Former Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Yokohama City University. Member of various Study Committees related to the Governments of Japan, of Metropolitan Tokyo and of Yokohama City. Director of Japan’s Society of Public Finance and of Japan’s Society of Local Government Finance. Books published include On the Taxation of Corporate Income (Dobunkan Publishing Company, 1991) and Local Government Finance, Theory, Institution and Empirical Analysis (Gyosei Publishing Company, 1999). Articles in academic reviews include: “Economy of Scale in Provision of Local Government Services", Economy and Trade Vol. 168, 1999; "Financing of Local Public Corporations: the Case of Local Public Hospitals", Economy and Trade Vol. 172, 1996; "The Role of Public Sector In Human Capital Formation In the Development of Japanese Economy", Yokohama City University Academic Papers, Vol. 47, No. 1, 1996; “Decentralization and the Amalgamation of Local Authorities: Experiences of Japan and the Economy of Scale in Providing Local Services”, Waseda Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 24, Waseda University.