The Japanese Economy, Second Edition

By Takatoshi Ito

The second edition of a comprehensive account of all the major aspects of the Japanese economy, substantially updated and expanded.

This textbook offers a comprehensive, rigorous but accessible account of all the major aspects of the Japanese economy, grounding its approach in mainstream economics. The second edition has been extensively revised and substantially updated, with new material that covers Japan's period of economic stagnation between 1991 and 2010. The first edition, published in 1992, focused on Japan as a success story of catch-up economic development; this edition reflects the lessons learned from Japan's Lost Two Decades.

After presenting the historical background, the book begins with macroeconomics, studying growth and business cycles. It then covers essential policy issues, with new material that takes into account the Japanese banking crisis of 1997-1998 and the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, discussing financial regulation, monetary policy, and fiscal policy. It goes on to examine saving, demography, and social security in light of Japan's ongoing demographic transition; industrial organization; labor markets; international trade and international finance; and the Japan-U.S. relationship. A new chapter offers a detailed analysis of the Lost Two Decades, synthesizing and applying concepts discussed in previous chapters and offering insights into such issues as successful catch-up growth, demographic shifts, and credit booms and busts.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262538245
• ISBN13: 9780262538244
• Release Date: January 2020
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 610 Pages
• Weight: 2.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.9" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Formerly the standard book on the subject, but now dated

This is an economics textbook, not a journalistic report. It gives detailed and sophisticated explanations of how the Japanese economy functions. Often these differ from their American counterparts, especially in such areas as the financial markets and labor practices. The quality of Ito's explanations is such that this book was the gold standard for informed readers who wanted to get beyond the deluge of pop books written during the Bubble Economy (1985-1991: like Clyde Prestowit's "Trading Places" or James Fallow's "Looking at the Sun"). However--this book was published in 1991, at the very end of the Bubble, and it shows. The Japanese economy has changed in important ways since then. For example, the bad debt crisis and the "big bang" financial reforms have changed the financial system significantly. Because of when it was written, it could not address the ongoing shift of Japanese industry to factories in China, and in a broader context, the "de-industrialization" of Japan (much like what happened to the US when industry went to Japan in the 1970s and 1980s). Overall, this is the kind of book that a serious library absolutely needs, but which interested readers should borrow rather than buy. Unless, of course, you are a specialist in Japanese economic history--but then you (like me) already have it on your shelf. :)