Postwar Japanese Economy: Lessons of Economic Growth and the Bubble Economy

✍ Scribed by Mitsuhiko Iyoda (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 167
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Since the end of World War II, the Japanese economy has seen rapid changes and remarkable progress. It has also experienced a bubble economy and period of prolonged stagnation. The book seeks to address three major questions: What kind of changes have taken place in the postwar years? In what sense has there been progress? What lessons can be drawn from the experiences? The book is organized as follows: It begins with an overview of the postwar Japanese economy, using data to highlight historical changes. The four major economic issues in the postwar Japanese economy (economic restoration, rapid economic growth, the bubble economy and current topics) are addressed, with particular focus on the meaning of economic growth and the bubble economy. The next chapters examine the important economic issues for Japan related to a welfare-oriented society, including income distribution, asset distribution, and the relative share of income. Another chapter deals with the household structure of Japan, the pension issue, and the importance of the effect of demographic change on income distribution. The final chapter gives a brief summary, examines quality of life as a lesson of this research, and briefly outlines a proposal for a basic design towards achieving a high satisfaction level society. This book will be of interest to economists, economic historians and political scientists and would be useful as a text for any course on the Japanese economy.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
Introduction....Pages 1-14
Historical Changes of the Japanese Economy....Pages 15-25
Recovery Period (Reforms, Social and Political Changes, and Economic Policy)....Pages 27-35
Rapid Economic Growth....Pages 37-48
Results of the Rapid Economic Growth: Positive Effects....Pages 49-56
Results of the Rapid Economic Growth: Negative Effects or Distortions....Pages 57-67
Bubble Economy and Its Generation....Pages 69-79
Bursting the Bubble and Its Consequences....Pages 81-93
Toward a Welfare-Oriented Society: Some Lessons from Rapid Economic Growth and the Bubble Economy....Pages 95-107
Income and Asset Distribution, and the Relative Share....Pages 109-120
Households and Pension....Pages 121-130
Toward the Quality of Life in the Mature Society (Summary and Lessons)....Pages 131-140
Back Matter....Pages 141-157

✦ Subjects

International Economics; Economic Policy; History