Since early 2008, the fiscal authorities sought to fill the hole left by the falloff in demand through large, temporary stimulus – checks-in-the-mail to spur consumption, temporary housing rebates to raise demand, one-time cash-for-clunkers to move inventory, and temporary business tax credits to spur investment.
Parallel with such moves on the part of major financial institutions, progress has been made in direct financing such as the establishment of MOTHERS on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in November 1999, followed by NASDAQ JAPAN established in early May at the initiative of the private sector and which will start operation in June.