The Japanese Economy Second Edition\

Despite recent upheavals, Japan remains one of the dominant economic powers at the end of the twentieth century. Yet the Japanese economy is one of the most misunderstood phenomena in the modern world. Aimed at graduate courses on Japan, this book will be indispensable both for students and instructors alike. Lucid explanations and comprehensive and rigorous analysis make it a natural choice for any interested in comprehending the rise of the Japanese economy.

Despite recent upheavals, Japan remains one of the dominant economic powers. Yet the Japanese economy is one of the most misunderstood phenomena in the modern world. Conventionally, Japan is presented as the exception to mainstream economic theory: an exception to the standard models of modern economics. This book demolishes that notion, bringing the full analytical power of economic thought to all aspects of the most dramatic economic success story in recent times. David Flath concentrates on four main themes: Japan's economic growth and development; Japan's integration with the world economy; Government policies and their effects; Economic institutions and practices. By applying common economic tools such as the Solow growth model, Modigliani's life-cycle model of saving, Becker's theory of investment, Samuelson's theory of revealed preference, Coase's exposition of the problem of social cost, and the modern theory of industrial organization, this book shows that the mainstream principles of economics apply in Japan as successfully as they do elsewhere. Revised and updated to take account of recent developments in Japanese banking and macroeconomics, this book is an indispensable resource for students and instructors alike. Lucid explanations and comprehensive and rigorous analysis make it natural choice for anyone interested in comprehending the rise of the Japanese economy.

1 - Incomes and Welfare of the Japanese Today
2 - Economic History Part 1, The Tokugawa Period, 1603-1868, and the Meiji Era, 1868-1912
3 - Economic History Part 2, The Twentieth Century, 1912-1945
4 - Economic History Part 3, Postwar Recovery, 1945-1964
5 - Saving
6 - Macroeconomics
7 - International Finance
8 - International Trade
9 - Industrial Policy
10 - Public Finance
11 - Environmental Strategy
12 - Industrial Organization
13 - Finance
14 - Marketing
15 - Labor
16 - Technology

David Flath is Professor of Economics at North Carolina State University, where he has been employed since 1976. He has previously been Visiting Professor of Economics at Kyoto University (2001-2) and at Osaka University (1995-6), and is the author of numerous academic articles on the Japanese economy.