Professor Yoshinori Hiroi appeared on NHK’s “Sunday Debate” on May 31, 2020.

Professor Yoshinori Hiroi appeared on NHK’s “Sunday Debate” on May 31, 2020 (9 – 10 a.m.). The theme of the program was “After lifting the state of emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic, how will our daily life change, how can we revitalize our economy?”

Socioeconomic activities have resumed since lifting the state of emergency status. In such a situation, this program considered a wide range of topics, including the future of our lives and economy, for example, how do we get back to our daily lives? What are the concerns about the second and third waves? How do we rebuild the economy?

Professor Hiroi and the following people appeared: Yasutoshi Nishimura (Minister in charge Economic Revitalization), Mitsuo Kaku (Specially Appointed Professor, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University), Reiko Katsube (Community Social Worker, Toyonaka City Social Welfare Council), Mitsumaru Kumagai (Chief Economist, Daiwa Institute of Research), and Akiko Kohsaka (Research Fellow, The Japan Research Institute).

Professor Hiroi pointed out that in preparation for the second wave, it is important to verify whether the relatively small number of deaths from novel coronavirus in Japan was due to policy effects or other factors. He also indicated that the transition to a “decentralized system” is a major direction we are heading toward in the post-COVID-19 world, that is, a “decentralized system” including relationships between Tokyo and local areas, telework, or new designs of work and overall lifestyle. It is considered that the background of the pandemic comes from excessive globalization. Therefore, a social system which starts from localization, namely, local economic circulation, and which builds up to a “national” and then “global” system, will be important in the future.

2020/07/30