Takuji Okubo is the Managing Director and Chief Economist at Japan Macro Advisors (JMA). JMA is a macro-research house, specializing in the analysis of the Japanese economy and its public policies. Outside his executive role at JMA, Takuji serves as a Director at Japan Risk Forum, an association of Chief Risk Officers of Japanese financial institutions. Prior to founding JMA, Takuji was a Chief Economist at Societe Generale, in charge of Japan and of South Korea, and a senior economist at Merrill Lynch and at Goldman Sachs. Takuji holds B.A in Economics from Tokyo University and he was awarded the prestigious INOUE scholarship in his second year. He holds MBA from INSEAD and Msc. in Economics from UPF in Barcelona. Apart from work, he enjoys motor-cycling, scuba-diving, cooking as well as worrying about the future of the Japanese economy.