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- Path: sparky!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!aj843
- From: aj843@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Robert L. Stone)
- Newsgroups: sci.research
- Subject: Re: Japanese Economic War (?)
- Date: 14 Dec 1992 03:02:47 GMT
- Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
- Lines: 90
- Message-ID: <1ggtgnINNlmb@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu
-
-
- Roger.Firestone@f349.n109.z1.fidonet.org writes:
-
- >I can't believe the amount of bandwidth that has gone into the
- >multiple posting of all this material on the superiority of the
- >Japanese--especially in the light of recent events in the Japanese
- >economy...
-
- Well, to my reading the recently posted article "Does America Say
- Yes to Japan?" does anything but declare the superiority of the
- Japanese system...in fact it serves as an introduction to the
- Japanese business system and shows how that system is not compatible
- with its counterpart in the United States in its present form.
- As to the "recent events" recounted they do little to refute the
- arguments of the paper or reverse the flow of capital from the
- United States to Japan.
-
- >I recall when the CIA was being criticized for the "ten feet tall"
- >syndrome, in which our analysts supposedly gave the KGB credit for
- >being invincible, only to discover the truth behind the facade when
- >the Soviet economy and polity finally collapsed. The latest
- >version of the "yellow peril" writings seems much the same to me...
-
- I'm afraid I fail to see the relevance of this argument. The
- Japanese are not engaging in unfair practices by keeping all U.S.
- (and other 'foreign') companies out of their markets because the CIA
- overestimated the KGB years ago? Come on!
-
- >Well, I say that the Japan of today only claims to be a free-
- >market, democratic society, but has not yet been able to shake off
- >its feudal roots and structures, which is what MITI, the keiretsu,
- >the status of women, and on and on are all about.
-
- The operative word here is *Claims* - the article (as well as the
- excellent PBS Frontline: "Losing the War With Japan") points out,
- Japan has made little to no effort to move to a free-market economy
- open to any other country. Agreement after agreement have been made
- between the U.S. and Japan regarding trade practices...and all of
- them have been broken by Japan. The MITI seems more analogous to a
- committee for economic war with the keiretsu as the branches of the
- military for that war rather than the remnants of Japan's "feudal
- roots."
-
- >Those of us who believe in free market economics and free
- >government know that our system has the laws of mathematics on its
- >side and, given enough time, will emerge superior.
-
- While I believe in a free market (as long as it is open to all)
- as well as free government, I fail to see how transferring the
- wealth of the U.S. to Japan at an incredible rate counts as our
- system "having the laws of mathematics on its side." That transfer
- is in fact taking place at a rate that by the year 2000 Japan will
- surpass the U.S. and become the wealthiest country on the Earth.
-
- >I could go on to expose a number of mathematical/economic fallacies
- >in the arguments of the material posted, but we've already passed
- >too many kilobytes around the net on this.
-
- Ahh, the classic argument! "I have the evidence, but don't feel
- like posting it!" Most often this is used only as a last resort by
- someone who does not have a complete grasp of the topic on which
- they argue.
-
- >When we as Americans believe in our own system and give up the
- >thoughts of emulating the faulty systems of others because of their
- >short-term successes, then we can emerge from our present
- >wilderness and discover we are already living in the promised land.
-
- >Roger.Firestone@f349.n109.z1.fidonet.org
-
- While I agree that the Japanese system is faulty in that it damages
- the world economy, I fail to see how an economic plan for the next
- 200 years (which Japan reportedly has) can be credited only with
- "short-term success."
-
- I sincerely hope that Americans will soon wake up to the economic
- threat from Japan in time to alter our laws in such a way as to
- become a mirror of their trade laws and thereby force them to make
- their policies fair. Hopefully, they will one day discontinue their
- economic offensive and fully participate in free *multi*lateral
- world trade, which will be to the benefit of all. Until that day,
- however, we must learn to look after ourselves and not naively
- depend on the benevolence of others.
-
- aj843@po.cwru.edu
- --
- _____ __ _______"Wake the neighbors and phone the kids,
- / __ // / / ____/it's time for viewer mail. Actual letters
- / /_/ // /__ /____ /from actual viewers, if they weren't, could
- /_/ |_|/____//______/I do this?" aj843 (Bob Stone, Baltimore MD)
-