He joined the firm in 1998 as the chief economist for Japan. In 2003, he also became Co-Director of Japan Research and currently is Head of Fixed Income Research in Japan. Robert focuses on the outlook for the Japanese economy and financial markets and policy developments. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he was the chief economist for Japan at Salomon Brothers from 1990-97, and worked for the IMF from 1983-89. Robert holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the MIT and B.A. in Economics and in Japanese studies from Yale. He is also a regular commentator on World Business Satellite, the nightly business program of TV Tokyo.