Takatoshi Ito is Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, Professor at GRIPS and a CEPR Research Fellow. He has taught extensively both in the United States and Japan in the past, including at University of Minnesota, Hitotsubashi University, University of Tokyo, and Harvard University after finishing Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University in 1979. Ito also served as Senior Advisor in the Research Department, IMF (1994-97); Deputy Vice Minister for International Affairs at Ministry of Finance, Japan (1999-2001); and a member of Prime Minister’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policies. He is an author of many books including The Japanese Economy, The Political Economy of the Japanese Monetary Policy and Financial Policy and Central Banking in Japan, and more than 60 academic journal articles on international finance and the Japanese economy. He was President of the Japanese Economic Association in 2004. He was awarded the National Medal with Purple Ribbon in June 2011 for his excellent academic achievement.