(Author) Tsuneo Iida: Former Professor, Nagoya University
Published in 2002, by PHP Publishing
This is an easy-to-understand, easy-to-read commentary on the modern Japanese economy.
(Contents)
The modern economy is the end result of industrialization and modernization. It is, to put it bluntly, the successful achievement of capitalism, or the affirmation of money-making principles. It has brought affluence to the industrialized countries, but it has conversely caused many problems. That is, since socialism, which opposed capitalism, has collapsed, capitalism is metastasizing into gambling capitalism in the name of globalization (Americanization). That is the problem; a new lifestyle befitting the 21st century is required.
The author exquisitely points out that capitalism and market-oriented capitalism is, after all, about making money. That explains at once the flow of economics up to now. In other words, Adam Smith was the one who actively valued money-making and promoted industrialization and modernization. One hundred years later, however, the shortcomings of capitalism surfaced, namely, inequality and the weak and the strong. Marx criticized this, and the socialist state operated accordingly. But, capitalism has also survived by correcting its shortcomings through the welfare state and Keynesian policies.
Then came the collapse of socialism after 1989. Capitalism, which has lost its enemies, has fallen back into money capitalism. Something must be done about this, he says.
(My comment)
This is his swan song. This is his last book. I have read a dozen or so of his books, all of which make convincing arguments. This is because he explains contemporary economic issues from his own philosophy based on the basics of economics, and also argues his own theory.
It is an appropriate book for understanding where we stand today. I would also like to introduce two more books to give you an idea of what has been going on in the last years.
(The pasages that impressed me)
-The economy may never again have flash years.
-Japan has been a 20th century success story for the last 100 years, good and bad: modernization and industrialization.
-Consumers no longer want to buy anything new. The economic stimulus is trying to force it in by prying open its mouth
-In 1980, the author wrote that Japan was already rich, and was called crazy.
-Today’s Japanese are becoming total freeloaders.
-The world recession around 2000 was caused by Reaganomics: huge budget and trade deficits and borrowing from all over the world to cover the trade deficits. To Japan, therefore, they demanded market opening (deregulation) and expansion of domestic demand, which led to bubble economy
-Adam Smith encouraged money-making.
-Marx criticized money-making: the weak and the losers will emerge, depression will come
-Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe: the only way to manage the economy was to rely heavily on the market.
Furthermore, socialism has collapsed, an event that has occurred since 1989.
Furthermore, socialism has collapsed, an event that has occurred since 1989. Capitalism, which has lost its enemies, has fallen back on its ancestors into money capitalism. Something must be done about this, he says.
This is his swan song. This is his last book. I have read a dozen or so of his books, all of which make convincing arguments. This is because he explains contemporary economic issues from his own philosophy based on the basics of economics, and also argues his own theory.
It is an appropriate book for understanding where we stand today. I would also like to introduce two more books to give you an idea of what has been going on in the last 15 years.
(The part that made the biggest impression on me)
-The economy may never again have a flash year.
-Japan has been a 20th century success story for the last 100 years, good and bad: industrialization, industrialization, industrialization.
-Consumers no longer want to buy anything new. The economic stimulus is trying to force it in by prying open its mouth
-In 1980, the author wrote that Japan was already rich. In 1980, I wrote that Japan was already rich and was called crazy.
-Today’s Japanese are becoming total freeloaders.
-The world recession around 2000 was caused by Reaganomics = huge budget and trade deficits and borrowing from all over the world to cover the trade deficits. To Japan, therefore, they demanded market opening (deregulation) and expansion of domestic demand > bubble economy
Adam Smith encouraged money-making.
-Marx criticized money-making: the weak and the losers will emerge, depression will come
-Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe: the only way to manage the economy was to rely heavily on the market.
-The likely cause of the crisis in the future will be the recent extreme speculation, globalization, and Americanization of capitalism( He predicted the collapse of Lehman Brothers,it seems).
-The challenge of economics: It should be restructured to address universal problems of human society, including environmental issues, as well as the meaning of life and spiritual issues in the age of affluence.
-Affluence is also a dead end. What we are seeking is a 21st century lifestyle. New innovations are eagerly awaited (then IT boom happened).
-The four kinds of coercion brought about by capitalism and the market economy are as follows:
1 Coercion of exploitation: exploiting others
2 Coercion of overwork: others and oneself
3 Coercion of imperialistic aggression: ravaging other countries
4 Coercion of he destruction of the global environment
-The purpose of finance has changed from fostering industry to gambling.
The U.S. is taking full advantage of the reserve currency privilege.
(other two books by the same author)
Reflections on Japan, PHP Publishing 1996
The End of Economics, Same 1997
