Unlocking the bureaucrat's kingdom : deregulation and the Japanese economy / Frank Gibney, editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gibney, Frank, 1924-2006.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Deregulation--Japan.

Deregulation.

Japan.

Trade regulation--Japan.

Trade regulation.

Industrial policy--Japan.

Industrial policy.

Japan--Economic policy--1989-.

Economic policy.

Physical Description:

xiv, 282 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, [1998]

Summary:

Japan today is caught up in chronic economic crisis, its financial system wracked by record-breaking bankruptcies and its companies hobbled by bad balance sheets, overproduction, and weak consumer demand. In turn, Japan's faltering fortunes have sent shock waves across Asia, triggering the collapse of economies in South Korea, Thailand, and other Asian countries that followed its model for rapid growth and development. While many blame the misguided policies of Japan's Ministry of Finance, the root of Japan's malaise lies in the contradictory relationship that first made it an economic powerhouse: the combination of businesses that aggressively compete for profits in the best tradition of free enterprise with a government bureaucracy that controls the economy with a heavy thicket of regulation and guidance.

In this book, Japanese, American, and European journalists and authorities in the business, political, and economic sectors examine the problems caused by overregulation, and offer solutions for reshaping the Japanese marketplace. In Part One, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, Vice Minister of Finance Eisuke Sakakibara, and other leading experts map out the long road to regulatory reform. They analyze the postwar origins of today's bureaucracy and the changes that must occur to achieve true reform. Part Two focuses on the effects of over-regulation, using case studies involving Japan's financial system, insurance, markets, nonprofit industries, and regulatory agencies.

Contents:

Part 1 The Long Road to Regulatory Reform

1. From Wartime Controls to Postwar Recovery / Tetsuji Okazaki 19

2. Reforming the Catch-Up Economy / Iwao Nakatani 30

3. Politicians, Bureaucrats, and Policymaking in Japan / Yasuhiro Nakasone 41

4. Deregulation in Japan and the United States: A Study in Contrasts / Edward J. Lincoln 53

5. Deregulating Japan's Soul / Masao Miyamoto 69

6. Reform, Japanese-Style / Eisuke Sakakibara 79

Part 2 The Protective Bureaucracy in Action

7. Who Has Obstructed Reform? / Taro Yayama 91

8. Liberalizing Japan's Insurance Market / Charles D. Lake II 116

9. Between Bureaucrat and Buyer: Japan's Nonprofit Industry Groups / John P. Stern 142

10. Bureaucrats in Business / Ulrike Schaede 160

11. The Land Factor: An Economic Disaster / Richard Koo 171

12. The Making of Japan's Failed Land Policy / Koichi Mera 178

13. The Myth of Regulatory Independence in Japan / E. B. Keehn 204

14. Japan's Financial System / Christopher Wood 220

15. Two Years after the Kobe Earthquake / Edith Terry 231

Whither Deregulation? An Epilogue to Japan's Industrial Policy / Leon Hollerman 243.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0815731264

0815731256

OCLC:

37546666