I spent much of last week discussing economic security in conferences here in Tokyo and in Taipei. That wasn’t a surprise since the topic dominates politics and policymaking around the world.
Yasutoshi Nishimura, minister of economy, trade and industry, is right to insist that “the concept of economic security is a determining factor in national power and the fate of the nation.”
Remarkably, however, those meetings highlighted the uncertainty and imprecision that surrounds the idea of “economic security.” Everyone has something to say, but there is no consensus on what economic security is — and therefore, how to achieve it.