Category Archives: Trade

The long arm of Japanese industrial policy: Northern Ireland’s experience

In Dublin, Ireland, where I have lived in recent years, many observers view East Asian economics as a remote issue of little interest in Western Europe. As I discovered the other day, it is an attitude shared even by some … Continue reading

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Some of my Forbes commentaries

  If you click through on the headings below, you can get to the articles concerned. Most of them focus on international trade or American decline or both. For my first item, however, I chose something different — partly because it … Continue reading

Posted in American decline, China, Global economy, History, Japan, Manufacturing, Press, Service economy, Sino-Japanese relations, Trade | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Now Blogging at Forbes

I am now blogging at Forbes – you can find my most recent articles here. The RSS Feed for my Forbes blog is here.

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Boeing Goes To Pieces

This article was first published in the January-February 2014 issue of The American Conservative. At a welcoming banquet in Japan in the 1980s, Ford Motor chairman Philip Caldwell received a memorably double-edged compliment. “There is no secret about how we … Continue reading

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The myth of Japan’s “lost decades”: An invitation to Ambassador John Roos

Why do Americans keep misunderstanding Japan? Much of the blame must be placed at the door of the State Department. And that is why last week I extended an unusual offer  to  the current U.S. ambassador to Tokyo. As part … Continue reading

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The Japanese Electronics Industry: A Rebuttal

A message for Richard Katz and other Japan declinists: Look at the big picture. Probably no commentator has been more outspoken in proclaiming the demise of the Japanese economic model than Richard Katz, author of The System that Soured. While many … Continue reading

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Japan’s “Lost Decades”: The Sophistry Continues

My article in today’s New York Times Sunday Review has been generating heat as well as light. An article I have written on Japan for the January 8 New York Times Sunday Review went live at the nytimes.com website yesterday … Continue reading

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The Fingleton Invitation: Progress Report

People have asked me what happened to the Fingleton Invitation. The answer is nothing. Some months ago I invited Ed Lincoln, a former Tokyo-based economic adviser to the U.S. government, to join me for a public discussion of the Japanese … Continue reading

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Dollars and Dragons

I have just published the article below in  the American Conservative. TOKYO—In the mid 1990s, I published a book entitled Blindside: Why Japan Is Still on Track to Overtake the U.S. By the Year 2000. The prediction in the subtitle … Continue reading

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