These factors have resulted in a decline in the capacity for supplying goods and services in Japan’s economy as a whole. As a result, exports have decreased substantially and domestic demand has been declining. It should be noted, however, that demand itself has not disappeared, but that it could not be realized due to supply constraints.
In this regard, the current situation is significantly different in nature from that which followed the failure of Lehman Brothers, when demand both at home and abroad “evaporated” due to the rapid contraction of financial markets.