Japan: Who Governs?: The Rise of the Developmental State - Softcover

The godfather of Japanese revisionism, author of MITI and the Japanese Miracle and president of the Japan Policy Research Institute explains how-and why-Japan has become a world power in the past 25 years. Johnson lucidly explains here how the Japanese economy will thrive as it moves from a producer-dominated economy to a consumer-oriented headquarters for all of East Asia.

Japan is the richest economy in terms of per capita income. Its households save nearly 20 per cent of their disposable income, and its pension and health systems are efficient and inexpensive; in addition, its unemployment rate is a fraction of that in Europe. This study examines the reasons for this success, explaining that they lie, according to the author, in Japan's remarkable "capitalist development state". He also predicts that, precisely because it is planned, this system will thrive as it moves from a producer-dominated to a consumer-oriented society.