The Japanese Economy Reconsidered

The Japanese economy has shown paradoxical changes. Its successes in forming a company-centred society generated the long downturn toward zero-growth capitalism. Successful spread of information technologies resulted in deterioration of economic life among working people and a wide fall in birth rate. At the zenith of the Japanese model of company system, a huge bubble swelled, so as to prepare a prolonged depression throughout the 1990s. Neoliberalism with spiral reversal of capitalist development toward more competitive markets rather promoted difficulties among people. A lucid reconsideration of neoliberalism through concrete Japanese experiences.

Autorentext

MAKOTO ITOH is Professor of Economics at Kokugakuin University, Tokyo, and Emeritus Professor of the University of Tokyo. His books include The Basic Theory of Capitalism, The World Economics Crisis, Japanese Capitalism and Political Economy for Socialism.

Zusammenfassung

'Makoto Itoh has produced a masterful volume on the crisis of Japan. This concise and complete work by one of the 20th century's great political economists provides a sure-handed account of Japan's situation as it enters the 21st. He incisively summarizes the historical background and competing schools of thought on what ails Japan. Itoh argues that Japan's problems arise from both a crisis of social reproduction and the breakdown of the international economic order. This volume will take its place as one of author's enduring achievements.' - Gary Dymski, Department of Economics, University of California, Riverside

Inhalt
List of Tables List of Figures Preface PART I: THE LONG DOWNTURN IN THE JAPANESE ECONOMY High Economic Growth and its Deadlock Several Phases of Continuous Instability Strengths and Weaknesses of the Japanese Economy Toward Zero Growth Capitalism? PART II: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND COMPETITIVE RESTRUCTURING OF CAPITALISM The Impact of the Information Revolution Revitalization of Atomistic Market Economy Neoliberalism and the Spiral Reversal of Capitalist Development PART III: CHANGES IN INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND FAMILY LIFE Industrial Hollowing-out The Economy Shifts Toward the Tertiary Sector Changes in Family Life and Challenges to Feminism PART IV: THE BURST OF THE BUBBLE AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE 1990s DEPRESSION The Swell of the Bubble The Burst of the Bubble and Pressure of Depression Failure and Confusion in Economic Policy PART V: ASIA AND JAPAN IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION Globalization of the Capitalist Economy Globalization of Japanese Capitalism The Asian Connection Concluding Remarks Notes and References Bibliography Index