German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ)
German Centre for Research and Innovation (DWIH) TokyoDIJ DWIH Web-Forum
Monday, November 9, 2020
18:00h – 19:30h (Japan)
10:00h – 11:30h (Germany)

Quo Vadis, Central Banks? Monetary Policyin the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond
Kiyohiko G. Nishimura, former Bank of Japan Deputy Governor (2008-2013)
Katrin Assenmacher, Head of the Monetary Policy Strategy Division, ECB
Moderated by Kazuo Momma, Executive Economist, Mizuho Research Institute
Registration is required until November 8, 2020 (JST) via heckel@dijtokyo.org
Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/am7zEEsm_0Q
Central bank laws in the US, Japan and Europe consider price stability as the prime goal ofmonetary policy. However, since the Global Financial Crisis and even more so during the present
COVID-19 crisis, we have observed the implementation of unconventional monetary policy
measures accompanied by an unprecedented concerted action between monetary and fiscalauthorities. Are these changes only temporary or do they indicate a fundamental change in therole of central banks, their relationship with governments and the constitution of monetary policy?
How does the “new normal” affect the independence of central banks, which used to beconsidered a fundamental element in the design of central banking? What do these changes imply
for the ability of central banks to commit to the goal of price stability? The discussions in this webforum will explore monetary policy in the COVID-19 crisis and its implications for current andfuture central banking.

Programme
18:00 Welcome by Franz Waldenberger, DIJ
18:05 Introduction by Kazuo Momma
18:10 Keynote by Kiyohiko G. Nishimura
18:30 Keynote by Katrin Assenmacher
18:50 Moderated discussion with Q&A (Kazuo Momma and Markus Heckel, DIJ)
19:25 Closing remarks by Franz Waldenberger, DIJ

Introducing the speakers and moderators

Kiyohiko G. Nishimura is Emeritus Professor of Economics at The University of Tokyo andSenior Professor in the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). He received his
B.A. (1975) and M.A. (1977) from The University of Tokyo and his Ph.D. (1982) from Yale
University. He was an Arthur M. Okun Research Fellow (1981–1982) at the Brookings Institutionin Washington, D.C., before joining the Faculty of Economics at The University of Tokyo in 1993,
where he was associate professor (1983–1994) and professor (1994–2005). He was appointed
as an executive research fellow of the Economic and Social Research Institute of the Cabinet
Office of the Government of Japan between 2003 and 2005, before joining the Bank of Japan asa Member of its Policy Board (2005–2008), and then as deputy governor (2008–2013). After
returning to academia, he was dean of the Graduate School of Economics and chairman of theFaculty of Economics at The University of Tokyo (2013–2015). He was chairman of the Statistics
Commission of Japan (2014-2019), and since October 2019, he is Advisor of the Ministry ofInternal Affairs and Communications.
Katrin Assenmacher is Head of the Monetary Policy Strategy Division at the European Central
Bank (ECB) since 2016. Before joining the ECB, she led the Monetary Policy Analysis unit at theSwiss National Bank (SNB). Katrin was a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Banks of St.
Louis and Atlanta, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank and the Universities of Copenhagen andSouthern California. She published several articles in international academic journals in the areasof monetary policy as well as time-series econometrics and holds a Doctorate in Economics fromthe University of Bonn, where she also received her Habilitation. During her tenure at the SNB
she lectured courses on monetary policy and macroeconomics at the universities of Zurich andBern and served as a member of the Czech National Bank´s Research Advisory Committee.
Kazuo Momma is an Executive Economist of the Mizuho Research Institute. He had a long careerat the Bank of Japan, including positions as Assistant Governor, in charge of international affairs,
Executive Director in charge of monetary policy, Director General, Monetary Affairs Department
and Director General, Research and Statistics Department. He received his B.A. in Economics(1981) from The University of Tokyo and his MBA. (1988) from Wharton School, University ofPennsylvania.
Franz Waldenberger has been Director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) inTokyo since 2014. He is on leave from Munich University where he holds a professorship forJapanese Economy. His research focuses on the Japanese Economy, Corporate Governanceand International Management. He is editor in chief of the international peer reviewed journal
Contemporary Japan. His recent publications include Governance, Risk and Financial Impact ofMega Disasters. Lessons from Japan, Springer 2019 (co-edited with A. Kamesaka).
Markus Heckel is a Senior Research Fellow at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ)
since 2018. From 2012 to 2018, he has been working at the Faculty of Economics, Goethe
University Frankfurt.