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One of the most interesting things about Japanese business, is how much was built by New Dealers who came over in the occupation. Americans rebuilt the giant co
by aomurphy 12y ago
One of the most interesting things about Japanese business, is how much was built by New Dealers who came over in the occupation. Americans rebuilt the giant conglomerates, we reinforced the idea of life time employment (salarymen were very consciously modeled on American professionals of the 1950s and 1960s, then made Japanese), we insisted on tight government-corporation intervention in the economy to encourage growth and stability. People often try to make it sound like this ancient relic of Japanese culture, and it's really not. It's a weird fusion of Japanese thought and new Dealer technocratism, left to develop on it's own for decades.
- m_mueller 12y agoInteresting premise. Is there anything to read up on New Deal influence in Japan?
- aomurphy 12y agoThe book where I read most of this from is Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John Dower. It's a big book, and covers a lot about occupation, not just economics, but I found it engrossing and quite readable. It's a little out of date now, being 14 years old, but nothing really noticeable.
- vram22 12y agoDidn't know those details about the New Dealers, interesting. I guess that sort of fusion tends to happen in many such scenarios. I know there's some of it in India, in a different field of work.