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Economic modernization of japan
Current economic conditions in japan
Economic modernization of japan
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In the 1970s Japan had one of the world’s most-admired economies. Economists believed it would achieve the highest living standards and continue to develop the best technologies. At that time, Japan boosted he world’s second largest gross national product and eventually reached number one by the late 1980s However, everything changed in the early 1990s, and Japan entered what has been described as its first lost decade (Kuepper, n.d.).
Economists and historians have studied the causes for Japan’s stagnation over the past twenty years, but there are significantly different opinions regarding the issue. Most agree that the huge asset ‘bubble’ was the cause for the initial stagnation, but they disagree as to the reasons for why this persists. Some are of the opinion that the domestic sector’s lack of dynamism and an aging population are to blame because they hinder domestic spending (Samuelson, 2010). Other economists, such as Paul Krugman, believe that consumers and companies’ excessive savings are the root causes (Kuepper, n.d.).
Very low interest rates drove stock market and real estate speculation in the 1980s. All the speculation during the boom cycle caused the beginning of the crisis. Property and public company valuations tripled during the period, and land in Tokyo became extremely expensive (Kuepper, n.d.). The asset price bubble burst in 1992 and, in the beginning, it was just a decline following the stock market crash (Posen, 1998). However, the economy has not recovered since.
Shortly after the 1992 crash, stocks had dropped 57 percent when compared to the 1989 level. Banks had problems; some even became insolvent, because they had lent on the collateral of inflated land values. The economy continued growing at a ...
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...mic Stagnation? Aei-Ideas.org. Retrieved February 2, 2014 from: http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/11/baby-bust-will-china-avoid-japans-economic-stagnation/
Posen, S. A. (1998). Some Background Q&A on Japanese Economic Stagnation. Peterson Institute for International Economics. Retrieved February 9, 2014, from: http://www.iie.com/publications/testimony/testimony.cfm?ResearchID=317
Samuelson, R. J. (2010). How to Avoid Japan’s Mistakes. Washington Post. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/14/AR2010111403886.html
Whitley, S. (2013). How Abenomics Benefits Japanese Companies. Financial Times.com. Retrieved February 9, 2014 from Financial Times
Xu, B. (2013). Abenomics and the Japanese Economy. Council on Foreign Relations.org. Retrieved February 2, 2014 from: http://www.cfr.org/japan/abenomics-japanese-economy/p30383
Just as the great depression, a booming economy had been experienced before the global financial crisis. The economy was growing at a faster rtae bwteen 2001 and 2007 than in any other period in the last 30 years (wade 2008 p23). An vast amount of subprime mortgages were the backbone to the financial collapse, among several other underlying issues. As with the great depression, there would be a number of factors that caused such a devastating economic
The Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand into its neighbor’s territory and take over its import market, mostly pointed at China. To put an end on that the United States put economic sanctions and trade embargoes. We believed that if we cut off their resources and their source of federal income than they would have no choice but to pull back and surrender. But the
“By 1870, 90% of Japan’s international trade was controlled by Westerners living in Japan.” (Woods, SW. (2004). Japan an Illustrated History (1st Edition). Hippocrene books pg. 111).
...954. However, once Japan began to flourish, it has now become the world’s 14th richest country – having a GDP per capita of $32,640 (2006). Despite a major stock market crash in 1990, from which the country is recovering gradually, Japan remains a global economic power today and is now bidding for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
After World War 1 Japan had a hard time adjusting to the new world. “While its economy was still primarily agricultural, rapid population growth (to over 80 million) had diminished the amount of land suitable for farming. Many people lived in small houses, lacking running water. In a nation about the size of California, only one of every six acres was farmland. This put great pressure on Japanese government to find more space and land for its people.” (America Enters World War II page 12). Japan attempted to change its agricultural-based economic system to an industrial based system. “But the international system of trade barriers and tariffs, established by the United States and other industrial powers to protect domestic manufacturing, hindered Japan’s industrial expansion.” (America Enters World War II page 13). Many of the materials Japan needed were found in neighboring countries that were controlled by European powers. Japan began to question it’s right to Asian markets and raw materials. “J...
Thurow, Lester. (1992). Head to Head: The Coming Economic Battle Among Japan, Europe, and America. New York: William Morrow & Co., Inc.
In the late nineteenth century, Japan’s economy began to grow and industrialize. Because of the scarcity of natural resources in Japan, they relied on imported materials from other countries. In September 1940, the United States placed an embargo on Japan by outlawing exports of steel, iron, and aviation fuel, because Japan took over north...
Moreover, the context in which this book was written demonstrates that Japan is going through the financial affluence as well as the greatest boom since it is during the postwar period, much of the financial affluence had been caused by the consumerism in Japan. The author seem to be biased on this theme, despite the benefits consumerism has had on Japan, Yoshimoto goes ahead to give it a negative
All good things must come to and end. In late 2005, the housing bubble burst, and housing began to decline in price. People who refinanced, particularly those who financed with variable interest rates suddenly found their homes were valued at much less. The housing market became flooded with homes for sale, because the homeowners with variable rates and interest only loans could not continue to make their payments. (Greenspan) The rise in the number of homes for sale caused further lowering of home values.
In conclusion, I tried to explain what experienced in Japan during the first years of rapid economic growth in terms of its social consequences. According to my argument, I tried to show imbalances which occurred with economic development in post- war Japan. In other words, economic development cannot appear as linear social development. Post- war Japan has witnessed positive and negative social consequences after implementing economic recovery. Therefore, we can say that society cannot always embrace economic development positively. Economic transformation brings its own waves and thus society fluctuates regarding its embracement. Japanese society received its share with this economic recovery during post- war period.
So, if Japan does not “belong” to Asia, does it belong to some other amorphous collection of nations, namely Europe or the West? Certainly in the modern post-WWII era Japan has seen phenomenal economic growth, even to the point of threatening the US as the primary global economic power during the height of the “bubble economy.” Some credit this success to the changes implemented during the US occupation. Undoubtedly without US assistan...
...high power status, Japan had to have a self-reliant industrial common ground and be able to move all human and material resources (S,195). Through the Shogun Revolution of 1868, the abolition of Feudalism in 1871, the activation of the national army in 1873, and the assembly of parliament in 1889, the political system of Japan became westernized (Q,3). Local Labor and commercial assistance from the United States and Europe allowed Japan’s industry to bloom into a developed, modern, industrial nation (Q,3). As a consequence production surplus, and food shortage followed (Q,3). Because of how much it relied on aid of western powers, Japan’s strategic position became especially weak. In an attempt to break off slightly from the aid of the west Japanese leaders believed that it would be essential for Japan to expand beyond its borders to obtain necessary raw materials.
The U.K. and Japan seem natural subjects for comparison. British and Japanese observers alike have long been fascinated by the many parallels (and the even more numerous divergences) in the histories of these two island nations. Particularly interesting about these two was the "economic role reversal” which occurred between Japan and Britain over the course of the twentieth century. In 1900, the United Kingdom was the world's dominant colonial, financial and naval power, as well as a center of industrial production and technological innovation. Japan was a mere up-start, a precocious and aspiring, but still unthreatening, economic competitor in East Asia. The beginning of the twentieth century, and more accurately the 1950s, saw Japan and Great Britain’s economic “role” reverse. Although Britain has enjoyed healthy growth rates and rising standards of living over the past 100 years, it has been progressively eclipsed by Japan as an economic superpower and an international model. Indeed, Britain's accomplishments have paled in comparison to Japan's meteoric rise: while Japan has emerged as the outstanding economic "success story" of the twentieth century, Great Britain's relatively modest performance has been both discouraging and confounding.
O'Bryan, Scott. 2009. Growth Idea : Purpose and Prosperity in Postwar Japan. University of Hawaii Press, 2009. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed December 4, 2011).
Japan’s rising yen and the decline of the US dollar, East Asia Forum, 2011. Available at: