Japan as the Future of Rentier Capitalism
How Monetary Policy Enriched Asset-Holders and Impoverished Workers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19488156 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Vignesh V (Independent Research Scholar, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Japanese Political Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2329-1958 • E-ISSN: 2329-194X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/2329194x.2026.2684596 |
| OpenAlex | W7164545157 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
This article argues that contemporary Japan represents the most advanced case of rentier capitalism among major developed economies. Drawing on classical political economy, Keynesian theory, and the recent rentier capitalism literature, the article identifies four interdependent structural mechanisms that have consolidated this regime over three decades of unconventional monetary policy: monetary-policy-induced asset inflation, corporate financialization through the accumulation of retained earnings, the institutionalization of wage growth suppression, and the socialization of rentier profits by the state. While asset prices have soared, real wages have stagnated, productive investment has declined, and household consumption has weakened. By situating Japan within the broader trajectory of advanced capitalist economies, the article contends that Japan is not an outlier but a harbinger of the structural tendencies of twenty-first century capitalism, contributing to heterodox debates on secular stagnation, financialization, and the contradictions between capital accumulation and social reproduction
Capital accumulation · Capitalism · Financialization · Interdependence · Politics · Wage · Economic Theory and Policy · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Japanese History and Culture
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
U.S. Economic Prospects
Financialisation and capital accumulation in the non-financial corporate sector
Financialisation and the slowdown of accumulation
Regressive Taxation and the Welfare State
Welfare and Capitalism in Postwar Japan
Why Has Labor Productivity Slowed Down in the Era of Financialization
Modern monetary theory on money, sovereignty, and policy
Financialisation and Real Investment in the European Union
Contradictions of Capital and Care
Japanese capitalism in multiple crises
Beyond secular stagnation
Does the national debt matter
Wolfgang Streeck in Tokyo
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |