Ruins to riches : the economic resurgence of Germany and Japan after 1945 / Raymond G. Stokes, University of Glasgow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stokes, Raymond G., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Germany--Economic conditions--1945-1990.

Germany.

Germany--Economic conditions--1991-.

Japan--Economic conditions--1945-.

Japan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 333 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2024.

Summary:

In 1945, Germany and Japan lay prostrate after total war and resounding defeat. By 1960, they had the second and fifth largest economies in the world respectively. This global leadership has been maintained ever since. How did these 'economic miracles' come to pass, and why were these two nations particularly adept at achieving them? Ray Stokes is the first to unpack these questions from comparative and international perspectives, emphasising both the individuals and companies behind this exceptional performance and the broader global political and economic contexts. He highlights the potent mixtures in both countries of judicious state action, effective industrial organisation, benign labour relations, and technological innovation, which they adapted constantly - sometimes painfully - to take full advantage of rapidly growing post-war international trade and globalisation. Together, they explain the spectacular resurgence of Deutschland AG and Japan Incorporated to global economic and technological leadership, which they have sustained to the present

Contents:

Cover

Half-title page

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

Contents

Charts and Figures

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I No Mere Incantation Rising from the Ashes of Defeat, 1945 to the Early 1950s

1 From Foe to Friend: The Allied Military Occupation of Germany and Japan

Descent into Chaos

Taking Control: Punishment in Peacetime

Divide and Prosper

Mass Production, Quality Production, and the Kamikaze Origins of the Bullet Train

The Enemy of My Enemy

2 The Miracle Makers: (Re-)Constructing Cooperative Capitalism

Constructing Capitalism with a Conscience in Western Germany, 1945-1966

Refashioning Japanese Cooperative Capitalism in the Aftermath of War

Part II Making Miracles, 1950-1973

3 Manufacturing Miracles I: Forging Alternative Fordisms

Ramping Up Quality Production in Post-war West Germany

Building Better in Post-war Japan

4 Manufacturing Miracles II: From Humble Craftsmen to World Beaters

Diagnosing Dualism

West Germany and the Cultivation of the Manufacturing Mittelstand

Levelling Up Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Japan

5 Consuming Miracles

'Three Sacred Treasures'

Poverty and Progress

Consumption: From Needs to Wants to Desires

Producing for the Age of Mass Consumption

6 Exporting Wonders

A Tale of Two Objects

1959, New York City, USA

Spring 1966, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Selling the World the Things That Make the Things

or, the Wonders of Invisibility

Technologies for Conspicuous Consumption: Japan and Its Export Markets from the 1950s to 1970

The Political Consequences of Making and Selling

Part III Sustaining Miracles, 1973-1989

7 The Wages of Construction

'The Smell of Prosperity'

Shattering Revelations and Realisations

Consuming's Miseries

From Heresy to Dogma[sup(32)]

8 The Hauntings of the Past

Resisting the Past

The Perils of Palocracy and the Coordinated Market Economies

Dealing in Deutschland AG's Dark Shadows

Operating in the Nether Worlds of Japan, Inc.

A Verdict: Hauntings through Space and Time

9 Fragile Strength: Coping with Currency and Oil Crises

Out of the Bretton Woods

In and Out of the Bretton Woods: The German Path

In and Out of the Bretton Woods: The Japanese Path

Elements of Exposure: Navigating the Energy Crises

Part IV Navigating Waves of Globalization, 1990 to the Present

10 Managing in Major Markets: Selling and Making in the United States and China

Playing Ball in the World's Richest Market

Investing in America, Japanese Style

Investing in America, German Style

Doing Business in the Middle Kingdom

Investing in China, Japanese Style

Investing in China, German Style

11 Coping with the Close of the Cold War

Picking Up the Pieces after the Fall of the Wall

After the Bubble, the Quagmire

Plus ça Change...

Do Something, Even if It Is Wrong..

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 12 Apr 2024).

ISBN:

9781009092401

1009092405

9781009092609

100909260X

9781009083669

100908366X