1. Lawrence G. Franko argues that "The Japanese have been without doubt the world's champion learners--learning from others, learning from experience, and learning from schools." Analyze how Japan's ability to learn in these ways contributed to Japan's economic development before World War II. Discuss.

2. In July, the Toronto Globe and Mail, in an editorial, remarked that "it is wrong to speak of a Japanese economic miracle." Indicate whether you think the Toronto Globe and Mail's statement is true when you look at Japan's economic development, 1945 to 1995. Discuss.

Discuss the reasons for Japan's rapid economic development and growth in productivity from 1950 to 1990. Also spend a shorter time discussing the reasons for Japan's slowdown in economic development and growth in productivity since 1990. In your discussion, especially focus on the roles of government, the banking system, agriculture, education, science, technology, capital formation, and the policies of firms toward management and labor in influencing economic development and the growth of productivity.

Discuss the reasons for Japan's persistent bilateral trade surplus with the United States in recent years. What should be the policy response, if any, by the United States to this bilateral trade imbalance? Discuss.

In your discussion of U.S. policy, include a discussion of the following two viewpoints.

(1) Laura D'Andrea Tyson's view: "The cases of US-Japan trade competition provide compelling historical evidence of the persistence of structural and policy impediments to the Japanese market. Although formal protection has been phased out, primarily in response to American pressure, the peculiar features of Japanese capitalism continue to impede access to foreign suppliers and to shape competition to the advantage of their Japanese rivals."

(2) Jagdish Bhagwati's view in response to the contention of James Fallows (two paragraphs): "'When foreign competitors ask Japan to embrace the principles of free trade, they run up against a broader Japanese discomfort with the very prospect of abiding by abstract principles,' revisionist James Fallows observed. Therefore, instead of futilely pressing Japan to conform to the rules of free trade, Fallows thinks that the U.S. should demand that Japan accept targeted quantities of U.S. goods. But a simpler and wholly plausible explanation of the Japanese behavior in trade negotiations seems to be that, since the 1930s, they have not been allowed to trade by rules. Their export successes have always been met by demands for quantitative restraints. Other countries' political preferences, not the cultural afflictions of the Japanese, seem to have molded their attachment to quantities. If Japan is widely regarded as an unfair trader, it may be because the successful often appear to be predatory [plunderous]. . . . Many who are convinced that Japan does not offer market access have moved from the clearly false position that Japan has high trade barriers to the complex contention that Japanese institutions are so 'different' that they effectively impede imports."

Choose 4 of the following 5 questions.

1. What role has government played in Japan's economic development?

2. What contribution has Japanese agriculture made to Japanese economic growth? Explain the background to the relatively substantial percentage of Japanese in agriculture, despite the fact that Japan is a very high-income country. Discuss.

3. What is meant by Japan's ringi-sei decision-making system in national policy and business management? How does this system differ from the system within the United States?

4. Discuss and evaluate Japan's and the US's foreign exchange rate policies (and their relationships to domestic economic policies) since the early 1970s.

5. What is the product-cycle theory and the Asian borderless economy? Do non-Japanese Asian economies benefit from the product cycle and membership in the Asian borderless economy? Discuss.