Talk:Japanese post-war economic miracle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I removed the cleanup tag--although this article still needs work, it now conforms to wikipedia standards Savidan 05:15, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Ikeda Administration started a chain of events

Japan's LDP leadership has in the past shown itself capable of actions sharply contrary to agricultural interests. In 1964, for example, the government liberalized lemon imports, al- though a substantial part of the country's pro- duction was concentrated in Prime Minister Ikeda Hayato's electoral district. Since 1976 the LDP has allowed the real price of rice to producers to fall over 15 per cent despite strong rural opposition. Thus, the frequent Japanese argument that liberalization of agricultural restrictions would cause political turmoil in Japan seems grossly exaggerated (Calder, Opening Japan)

[edit] Japan's success was not economic liberalization

This article needs improvement in parts, and does not correctly correlate to what Johnson has said concerning the Japanese Economic miracle. Further this miracle may be properly called the "Japanese Model or System" of economics. Consider the following:

• "State Industrial Policy- The so-called Japanese model as in the state industrial policy is characterized as the bureaucratic strong leadership based on the holy triangle. As will be more detailed in the later sections, one can not deny the role of industrial policy, or coordinate relationship between government and business, in having made possible the rapid industrialization after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 as well as the post-War Japan’s economic miracle. In the pre-War period until 1945, the coordinate relationship between government and business was specifically focused upon that with zaibatsu conglomerates. After the War, however, the coordination mechanism basically remained unaltered. Under the U.S.-Soviet cold war regime, or under the umbrella of U.S. nuclear great power, Japan could have devoted itself into the economic growth. The post-War holy triangle between politics, bureaucrats, and business, had put its raison d’être on this "growth-first ideology"(Okumura, 75). Furthermore, one more significant fact is that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had reigned for about 38 years since 1955 to 1993. In terms of state industrial policy, this so-called 1955-setup is important since it had enabled and nurtured the long-term relationship between LDP politicians and bureaucrats as well as the policy coordination based on the long-term plans. Under this circumstance, there occurred "[t]he transformation of Zoku LDP Diet members into De Facto Bureaucrats": in other words, "the LDP became more bureaucratized" (Noguchi, 1996: 85). [1]

Hence, industrial policy making was the key together with U.S. assistance in the early stages to the Japanese Economic Miracle of rapid economic growth and then sustainability in light of other nations loosing their competitive edge in industry due to opposite policies like USA. Consider the following also:

• State-Assisted Capitalism - In the early 1870s, shortly after the Meiji Restoration, Japan's new political leadership faced the problem of Western imperialism. Japan's oligarchs quickly decided to build both a strong economy and a strong military. Meiji leaders systematically studied various economic models and made the deliberate decision to adopt a Prussian-style government-directed capitalism where the government plays a significant role in determining what is produced and allocates capital through control of the financial system. Free trade is considered harmful much of the time. The legal framework is considered subservient to state interests and, most importantly, the economy is viewed as existing to serve the interests of the nation, not the individual. The Japanese rejected the Anglo-American laissez-faire model in which the market largely determines what products are produced, and banks and the stock market allocate capital. Free-trade is considered highly desirable. Business and government are viewed as separate entities, and the legal framework (or rules of the economic game) is considered important. Above all, the economy is viewed as serving the individual not the state. Through great state assistance to a few industries, Japan had become, even before World War II, a world leader in aluminum, ship building, and rayon. While Japan's defeat in World War II meant a radical de-emphasis of the military, the Japanese continued to pursue the goal of economic strength. After the war, the Japanese government continued its practice of promoting and protecting particular industries and discouraging foreign and even domestic competition. These policies were achieved first through tariffs and later through so-called informal trade barriers such as environmental or consumer production regulations written in a way that excluded foreign or even aspiring domestic firms from entering new markets.

This is why I changed the opening statement to economic interventionism which is more accurate than economic liberalization to describe the Japanese model or system. --Northmeister 02:48, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

But this article is not about the "Japanese model or system". It is about the Japanese economy in the period from 1962 to 1970. Your cites don't seem to focus on that period. -Will Beback 05:31, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Parsing words? Here is a quote on it:

• "THE JAPANESE ECONOMIC MIRACLE After World War II, East Asia was the only region of the world that experienced continual substantial economic growth and no other East Asian country enjoyed more economic success than Japan. The Japanese economic pie grew at an annual rate of ten percent from the mid-1950s until the Arab oil shocks of the early 70s. The Japanese then managed to maintain much more modest but steady growth rates until the early 1990s. Many factors contribute to economic growth, and although some reasons are more important than others, economists and economic historians agree that all of the following contributed to Japan's economic rise:"

- that proceeds the 'State Capitalism' quote above which among other things lead to this 'miracle' or 'system' of economics. The sources indicate this, you must not have read them. --Northmeister 14:51, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Please don't change the topic and scope of the article without reaching a consensus. -Will Beback 18:28, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

I don't see where Northmaster is wrong. --LordoftheFLIES 02:21, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Corrected factual errors

I've corrected several factual errors in this article. Added references to sources used and updated information. --LordoftheFLIES 02:21, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

I support the changes made by the above user. Although I think the article needs further improvement in parts. Good job. --Northmeister 04:05, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

You two are funny. -Will Beback 04:24, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

More harassment and wiki-stalking...I hope those concerned see this stuff. Look at the edit summary! --Northmeister 05:58, 11 April 2006 (UTC)