Richard Koo
Richard Koo is Chief Economist at Nomura Research Institute, responsible for providing independent economic and market analysis to Nomura Securities, the leading securities house in Japan. Koo is a noted thought leader in economics, best known as the creator of the balance sheet recession theory, an invaluable contribution at explaining post-1990 Japanese and post-2007 Western economies. Throughout his career, he has advised several Japanese prime ministers, and numerous Western governments and central banks on economic and banking problems. He has also been consistently voted as one of the most reliable economists by Japanese capital and financial market participants for nearly a decade. Prior to joining Nomura in 1984, Koo was an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and a Doctoral Fellow of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Richard Koo Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Chief Economist
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Economist
Academic History
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M.A., Economics
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B.A., Political Science and Government
CURRENT AFFILIATIONS
Senior Advisor, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Columnist, Handelsblatt
Koo joined the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as an economist in 1981, where he dealt with the Latin American Debt crisis.
He addressed the largest post-war global banking crisis as the Fed economist in charge of the Euro-dollar syndicated loan market.
He also served as a Doctoral Fellow of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
EXPERTISE & EARLY CAREER
Koo is one of the first non-Japanese participants in the crafting of Japan’s five-year economic plan.
He was also the only non-Japanese member of the Defense Strategy Study Conference of the Japan Ministry of Defense.
He has advised successive prime ministers on how to best deal with Japan's economic and banking problems.
Koo is a regular contributor to Economics by Invitation, The Economist. He has also been featured in Bloomberg, Business Insider, and Institutional Investor.
He authored many books on the Japanese economy and economics in general.
RECOGNITIONS
In financial circles, Koo was ranked 1st among over 100 economists covering Japan in the Nikkei Financial Ranking for 1995, 1996 and 1997.
He was ranked 1st by the Institutional Investor magazine for 1998 and was also ranked 1st by Nikkei Newsletter on Bond and Money for 1998, 1999 and 2000.
He was awarded the Abramson Award by the National Association for Business Economics (Washington D.C.) for the year 2001.