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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. A complex distribution system dominated by the incumbents has made it hard for newcomers even to get their products on store shelves. 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.

Among the many books on why some nations prosper better than others, this is the first such focusing this theme on Japan in many years. And it is the first in English to show how a revival of Japan's past entrepreneurship will promote broader economic recovery, and written in a lively style, this book will appeal to laypersons, scholars, businesspeople, and policymakers alike. Adding to the appeal is that the book demonstrates how current trends give Japan its best opportunity for recovery in a generation. At the same time, its discussion of the forces opposing an entrepreneurial revival adds both realism and drama. There truly is a contest of forces for control of Japan's economic future. On top of that, the book will attract those interested in broader themes ranging from generational attitudes and gender relations to culture and technology.

After seven long years of economic malaise, it is clear that something has gone awry in Japan. Unless Japan undertakes sweeping reform, official forecasts now warn, growth will steadily dwindle. How could the world's most acclaimed economic miracle have stumbled so badly? As this important book explains, the root of the problem is that Japan is still mired in the structures, policies, and mental habits of the 1950s-1960s. Four decades ago while in the ""catch-up"" phase of its economic evolution, policies that gave rise to ""Japan, Inc"". made a lot of sense. By the 1970s and 1980s, when Japan

After seven long years of economic malaise, it is clear that something has gone awry in Japan. Unless Japan undertakes sweeping reform, official forecasts now warn, growth will steadily dwindle. How could the world's most acclaimed economic miracle have stumbled so badly? As this important book explains, the root of the problem is that Japan is still mired in the structures, policies, and mental habits of the 1950s-1960s. Four decades ago while in the "catch-up" phase of its economic evolution, policies that gave rise to "Japan, Inc". made a lot of sense. By the 1970s and 1980s, when Japan had become a more mature economy, "catch-up economics" had become passe, even counterproductive. Even worse, in response to the oil shocks, Japan increasingly used its industrial policy tools. not to promote "winners", but to shield "losers" from competition at home and abroad. Japan's well-known aversion to imports is part and parcel of this politically understandable, but economically self-defeating, pattern. The end result is a deformed "dual economy" unique in the industrial world. Now this "dualism" is sapping the strength of the entire economy. The protection of the weak is driving Japan's most inefficient companies to invest offshore instead of at home. Without sweeping reform, real recovery will prove elusive. The challenging thesis articulated in this book is receiving widespread media attention in the United States and Japan and is sure to provoke continuing debate and controversy

In his recent essay 'Never Saw It Coming' (November/December 2013), Alan Greenspan makes two central arguments: first, that virtually no one foresaw the 2008 U.S. financial crisis and, second, that irrational 'animal spirits' were the root cause. If true, these propositions would absolve policymakers such as Greenspan of blame. But neither holds water. Adapted from the source document.

Today, even though tensions between China and Japan are rising, an economic version of mutual deterrence is preserving the uneasy status quo between the two sides. Last fall, as the countries escalated their quarrel over an island chain that Japan has controlled for more than a century, many Chinese citizens boycotted Japanese products and took to the streets in anti-Japanese riots. With no resolution in sight, those who fear an escalation can nonetheless take solace in the fact that China and Japan stand to gain far more from trading than from fighting. For now, China is sending mixed signals as to whether it will escalate or calm these tensions, something the Japanese interpret as a lack of a policy consensus. Even though some officials in both capitals are looking for ways to save face and step back from the precipice, an unintentional conflict is still possible. Adapted from the source document.

Comments on Michael Spence's "The Impact of Globalization on Income and Unemployment" (July/August 2011). Adapted from the source document.

A reply to "Comparing Crises" by Robert Madsen. Adapted from the source document.

When smart policy makers make big miscalculations over a considerable period of time, some fundamental political imperative is usually distracting them from economic rationality.

Katz reviews THE STATE AND POLITICS IN JAPAN by Ian Neary.