evident that real gnp and prices dropped significantly in line with the decline in m2, and recovered steadily with the increase in m2. then, in 1937, real gnp and prices declined again as m2 decreased, showing that it was a failure to exit from monetary easing too early. however, as monetary easing was resumed, real gnp started to recover from 1938 with the increase in m2. chart 5 real gnp, prices, and money stock in the united states during the great depression billion u. s. dollars cy 1929 = 100 real gnp ( prices in 1929 ) m2 index of wholesale prices ( right scale ) cy source : robert j. gordon, the american business cycle, the university of chicago press, 1986. adachi seiji, " ryoteki kanwa no deguchi wa nihon keizai ni totte kiken ka, " chap. 8 in abenomikusu wa shinkasuru : kin'yu ganseki riron o tou, ed. harada yutaka, kataoka goushi, and yoshimatsu takashi ( tokyo : chuokeizai - sha, 2017 ). as i mentioned earlier, it is actually difficult to totally refute the argument that japan's economy would have become better even without qqe. however, by referring to a number of cases in the past, i believe that it is now understood that it was monetary easing that brought about the recovery in japan's economy. the second argument : the effects of qqe have not become widespread the second argument is that qqe has produced positive effects for some people but also has produced negative effects for a number of others. for example, labor shortage is certainly a favorable condition for job seekers, but it is a potential disadvantage from the standpoint of employers. nevertheless, i feel that it is better to suffer from a lack of people who engage in selling, manufacturing, and transportation for a marketable product than from the problem of a product that is not selling. if a product that is not selling comes to pose a management crisis, it will become necessary to cut employment, which is a hard task for managers. after the 2008 financial crisis, i heard from numerous corporate managers that they were forced to cut their workforce and had never before had such a painful experience. i cannot imagine that there are any managers in japan who would find it easy to cut their workforce. this is why i feel that it is much better to have too few

, and in spain in september 2007. and this is not simply a problem affecting advanced economies : the problem is just around the corner for some emerging economies like korea, china, and brazil. population ageing is likely to have a significant impact on financial services, and requires a new policy response. here i would like to raise two issues : one is the necessity of cross - industry and even cross - border coordination, and the other is the question of how to deal with the fundamental uncertainty surrounding population ageing. necessity of cross - industry and cross - border coordination let me first consider the necessity of cross - industry and cross - border coordination. as a society begins to age, its older citizens become the dominant holders of financial assets. for example, see nishimura, k. g., and e. takats, “ ageing, property prices and money demand ”, bis working paper no. 385 ( 2012 ). bis central bankers ’ speeches however, with the coming of age, many people are likely to become risk - averse in managing their financial assets, for natural reasons. thus, a mature economy, with its lower growth potential due to ageing, faces the serious problem of how to provide risk money to promising sectors of the economy so as to encourage entrepreneurs ’ sound risk - taking and enhance value production. to be more specific, financial products and services should enable older citizens to maintain their quality of life and help foster an environment where longevity is seen as a gift, rather than a risk. these products, in addition to retirement savings, are expected to play diverse roles. given the improved average health of senior citizens in many countries, it is increasingly important that these financial products and services help the older population stay active and contributing to the community to the best of their abilities, while mitigating age - related risks such as illness. to provide such products, financial institutions must cooperate with other industries to take full advantage of their advanced technologies and expertise. at the same time, financial institutions should utilize their own expertise to measure, distribute, and manage the various risks as intermediates between asset - rich older citizens and prospective entrepreneurs. these attempts inevitably involve “ cross - industry ” elements. furthermore, with the transition from a growing economy to a mature economy, it is natural for people in an ageing economy to pursue higher returns by investing their savings in growing overseas economies. thus, it is also important for a mature economy to make full use of the benefits of cross - border transactions while