Nevertheless, it is widely accepted in health economics that it is the estimated population mean cost that is the statistic of interest to policy makers (Arrow, 1970).
Japan is struggling despite the massive stimulus provided by Shinzo Abe's "three-arrow" policy.
The economy contracted by 0.4% in the second quarter and Abenomics – the three-arrow policy named after prime minister Shinzo Abe – is failing.
In what some have described the death-knell for "Abenomics" – his three-arrow policy of monetary easing, fiscal stimulus and structural reform – recent currency and market turmoil have wiped out the gains made soon after he became prime minister in late 2012.
On both sides of the Atlantic, there is a feeling that policy makers have few arrows left in their quiver.
MR. ABE, who faces elections in July in the upper house of the Diet, Japan's parliament, has not unveiled all the details of his policy, which comprises "three arrows": monetary easing, fiscal policy and structural reform.
We will do this by launching three powerful arrows: a bold monetary policy, a flexible fiscal policy and a growth strategy that stimulates private investment," Mr. Abe said in a televised address to Parliament.
But Abe has two more arrows in his policy quiver.
Europe, he said, needs fiscal, monetary and structural policy working together, the three arrows of Abenomics.
