Japanese Youth Speak Out

• Author: Tomoko Kaida, Daisuke Gatanaga, and Kenji Nakada

Being young in a time of global economic crises is extremely frustrating. You feel like an invisible observer whose interests and future are at stake, yet you cannot influence events or partake in almost any way.

Young people in developed countries feel that it is likely that they shall be deprived from opportunities their fathers and grandfathers had—while at the same time, youth in the underdeveloped and developing world disappointedly consider that their future is not going to be as bright as they expected.

I would say that this sums up the youth perspective on the current shape of the global economy.

The IMF has a clear mandate, among other things, to promote global macroeconomic stability. With its instruments, it financially stabilizes and alleviates economic conditions of states (and their citizens) and saves them from monetary failure. Accordingly, the position and responsibility of the IMF in the stabilization of the global economy is noteworthy. Yet, although there are some positive developments (such as the IMF Youth Dialogue Initiative), there is just too little “youth” in the policies and practices of the IMF. Though financial stabilization of a country generally has a positive effect on the level of employment of its population, including youth, it is just not enough, and the IMF should become much more youth sensitive.

Actually, the IMF should move forward and attach something I call National Youth Policy Conditionality (NYPC) to its lending practices. Today, when lending funds, the IMF looks for the readiness of a government to adjust policies to deal with possible problems and repay loans. The IMF’s perspective should be expanded beyond classic economic policies. Governments that expect to receive IMF support in the future should have to show what kind of youth-friendly economic policies they have (or they are going to have) and that a respective portion of loan funds received from the IMF will be invested in creation of opportunities for the youth. Extensive youth employment programs, formal education, and vocational projects, etc., should be looked at.

Additionally, it should be noted that this concept has economic logical advantages for the IMF. By attaching NYPC to its loan policies, the IMF will motivate countries to invest in the generation that (likely) will repay the loan. In that way the IMF will secure repayment, which is naturally, in the long term, in accordance with its business interest. At the same time, the...