In that regard, for example, a database on Japanese news paper articles indicates that articles on population aging or a low birth rate started increasing in the 1990s. However, it was only until in the middle of the 2000s, articles on population aging or a low birth rate outnumbered those on asset price bubbles or non-performing loans (Chart 7).
In this respect, considerable progress has been made with the liberalisation of markets, the safeguarding of competition and institutional changes aimed at ensuring the smooth operation of product and financial markets.