Masanaga Kumakura is Professor of International Economics at Osaka City University, Japan. He earned his PhD in economics from the University of Cambridge in 2002, after receiving an MSc degree with distinction in Economics with Reference to the Asia Pacific Region from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Masanaga works extensively on monetary and trade issues in Japan and other Asian countries and has published numerous scholarly and policy-orientated articles. He also serves as a research associate at the Institute of Developing Economics, Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO).