Looking at the Sun: The Rise of the New East Asian Economic and Political System

Suggesting that the U.S. does not yet comprehend the ramifications of the new form of capitalism developed in Japan, Fallows, a reporter on Asia for the Atlantic Monthly and other periodicals and author of the American Book Award-winning National Defense , details them. It is this style of capitalism, rather than communism or fascism, that challenges us now, he shows. Much of Fallows's review of Japanese history and development is familiar, but his insights and scope are fresh and commanding. The purpose of economic policy in the U.S., he maintains, is to stimulate individual spending; in Japan, economic policy rewards the producers rather than the consumers and is intended to make the nation strong and invulnerable. Fallows argues that not every nation's economic policy will or can follow the American model; Japan has introduced a different and successful model and we should learn from it. (Apr.)