The Japanese Economy Reconsidered

The Japanese economy has shown paradoxical changes. Its successes in forming a company-centred society generated the long downturn toward zero-growth capitalism. Successful spread of information technologies resulted in deterioration of economic life among working people and a wide fall in birth rate. At the zenith of the Japanese model of company system, a huge bubble swelled, so as to prepare a prolonged depression throughout the 1990s. Neoliberalism with spiral reversal of capitalist development toward more competitive markets rather promoted difficulties among people. A lucid reconsideration of neoliberalism through concrete Japanese experiences.

List of Tables List of Figures Preface PART I: THE LONG DOWNTURN IN THE JAPANESE ECONOMY High Economic Growth and its Deadlock Several Phases of Continuous Instability Strengths and Weaknesses of the Japanese Economy Toward Zero Growth Capitalism? PART II: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND COMPETITIVE RESTRUCTURING OF CAPITALISM The Impact of the Information Revolution Revitalization of Atomistic Market Economy Neoliberalism and the Spiral Reversal of Capitalist Development PART III: CHANGES IN INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND FAMILY LIFE Industrial Hollowing-out The Economy Shifts Toward the Tertiary Sector Changes in Family Life and Challenges to Feminism PART IV: THE BURST OF THE BUBBLE AND THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE 1990s DEPRESSION The Swell of the Bubble The Burst of the Bubble and Pressure of Depression Failure and Confusion in Economic Policy PART V: ASIA AND JAPAN IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION Globalization of the Capitalist Economy Globalization of Japanese Capitalism The Asian Connection Concluding Remarks Notes and References Bibliography Index