Income Doubling Plan

The Income Doubling Plan (Japanese: 所得倍増計画, Hepburn: Shotoku Baizō Keikaku) was a long-term economic development plan initiated by Japanese prime minister Hayato Ikeda in the fall of 1960. The plan called for doubling the size of Japan's economy in ten years through a combination of tax breaks, targeted investment, an expanded social safety net, and incentives to increase exports and industrial development. To achieve the goal of doubling of the economy in ten years, the plan called for an average annual economic growth rate of 7.2%. In fact, Japan's annual growth averaged more than 10% over the course of the plan, and the economy doubled in size in less than seven years.