The Contest for Japan’s Economic Future

About it and links to order it

Description:

Just as a wave of entrepreneurship created Japan's postwar “economic miracle,” so it will take a new generation of entrepreneurs to revive its stagnant economy. Just an entrepreneurial effervescence drove the post-WWII economic miracle.

Fortunately, major social changes are now opening new opportunities. Generational changes in attitudes about work and gender relations are leading more and more talented people to the new companies. This includes ambitious women who are regularly denied promotions at traditional companies. The rise of e-commerce is enabling tens of thousands of newcomers to bypass the traditional distribution system and sell their products to millions of customers. Three decades of low growth have convinced many within both the elites and the public of the need for change.

Still, progress remains an uphill climb because of resistance by powerful forces. Bank financing remains quite difficult. For example, the system of “lifetime employment” has made it very hard to newcomers to recruit the staff they need. Banks, who are often in the same sprawling conglomerates as the corporate giants, are still loath to lend to new companies. While parts of the government try to promote more startups, other parts resist making the needed changes in regulations, taxes, and budgets.

Endorsements:

I’m honored that Heizo Takenaka and other notables have endorsed my book, just out from Oxford University Press. Takenaka is best known for resolving Japan’s bank debt crisis under Koizumi. Gerald Curtis is one of America’s most prominent experts on Japanese politics, having met every Prime Minister since Sato back in the 1960s. Bill Emmott, a former editor-in-chief of The Economist, has written several books on Japan. Zoltan Acs and David Audretsch are two of the most widely-cited global experts on entrepreneurship. Here’s what they had to say:

“Richard Katz, who knows Japan's economy and society inside and out, offers a book full of careful analysis and bold recommendations. It is a precious wake-up call to a Japan that sometimes acts like a frog that stays in boiling water.” -- Heizo Takenaka, Former Japanese Minister for Financial Services and former Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy

“For years, Japan has sorely needed to unleash the sort of creative energy that made it an economic superstar in the postwar decades. This highly original book provides evidence that digital technology, new generational attitudes, improving gender equality, and international inspirations are converging with demographic pressures and emerging government support in ways that create the possibility of a new burst of entrepreneurial vigor.” -- Bill Emmott, Former Editor-in-Chief, The Economist

“Richard Katz looks beyond Japan's institutional rigidities, complacency, and aversion to risk to explore important new 'megatrends' that hold the possibility of a rebirth of the entrepreneurial spirit that fueled postwar Japan's economic miracle. Hopeful, insightful, and written with verve, The Contest for Japan's Economic Future deserves to be read by anyone concerned about Japan's future trajectory.” -- Gerald Curtis, Columbia University

“Richard Katz provides a fresh, up-to-date analysis of an important topic that has bewitched two generations of scholars. While many have proposed that the solution to Japan's economic problems lies in reforming the big incumbents, Katz argues that generating a host of new companies is at least as indispensable.” -- Zoltan Acs, George Mason University

“This important new book challenges the conventional thinking that Japan is doomed to suffer from a paucity of entrepreneurship. Rather, its penetrating analysis of significant contemporary developments provides a compelling case for an entrepreneurial renaissance in Japan.” -- David Audretsch, Author of Creating Competitiveness: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policies for Growth

About The Author:

Richard Katz is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics In International Affairs, as well as a Special Correspondent for Weekly Toyo Keizai. The Contest For Japan's Economic Future is his third book and, like his first two, will also be published in Japanese. His two previous books were Japan: The System That Soured--The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Economic Miracle (1998) and Japanese Phoenix: The Long Road to Economic Revival (2003).

For two decades, he published a monthly newsletter on Japan called "The Oriental Economist Report." Now he publishes a free blog called "Japan Economy Watch." His essays and opeds have been published in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and The International Economy. He's testified several times to Congressional committees.

He also taught about Japan's economy as an adjunct lecturer at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and at New York University. He received his M.A. in Economics from New York University in 1996