Japan’s dramatic transformation from economic success to economic stagnation offers important policy lessons to advanced countries everywhere that are struggling with stagnation. The term ‘Japanization’ is often used by economists to describe long-term stagnation and deflation. Symptoms include high unemployment, weak economic activity, interest rates near zero, quantitative easing, and population aging. In the global context, what can governments do to mitigate the downward trends experienced by Japan? This judiciously timed book investigates in depth the causes of Japan’s ‘lost decades’ versus the real recovery achieved by the United States, and the lessons that can be learned.
Browse by title
Economic Stagnation in Japan
Exploring the Causes and Remedies of Japanization
Edited by Dongchul Cho, Takatoshi Ito and Andrew Mason
Islamic Wealth Management
Theory and Practice
Edited by Mohamed Ariff and Shamsher Mohamad
From an Islamic perspective, although the ownership of wealth is with God, humans are gifted with wealth to manage it with the objective of benefiting the human society. Such guidance means that wealth management is a process involving the accumulation, generation, purification, preservation and distribution of wealth, all to be conducted carefully in permissible ways. This book is the first to lay out a coherent framework on how wealth management should be conducted in compliance with guiding principles from edicts of a major world religion.
Foreign Direct Investment and the Chinese Economy
A Critical Assessment
Chunlai Chen
Foreign Direct Investment and the Chinese Economy provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of foreign direct investment, with extensive empirical evidence, on the Chinese economy over the last three and a half decades.
Shahid Yusuf
China’s Global Economic Footprint is large and growing. In recent years, China has contributed a third or more to the growth of the global economy following its meteoric rise starting in the 1980s and gathering momentum in the 1990s. China has convincingly demonstrated the efficacy of investment and export-led growth as a model of development and has achieved economic stardom using a mix of industrial, trade and exchange rate policies within the framework of a gradually reforming socialist market economy. This Research Review explores China’s economy and will be an invaluable resource for China watchers and researchers, students and policymakers interested in learning from East Asia’s development, understanding how China transformed its economy and exploring how China might come to grips with the challenges ahead.
Central and Local Government Relations in Asia
Achieving Fiscal Sustainability
Edited by Naoyuki Yoshino and Peter J. Morgan
Sustainable and inclusive growth in emerging Asian economies requires high levels of public investment in areas such as infrastructure, education, health, and social services. The increasing complexity and regional diversity of these investment needs, together with the trend of democratization, has led to fiscal decentralization being implemented in many Asian economies. This book takes stock of some major issues regarding fiscal decentralization, including expenditure and revenue assignments, transfer programs, and sustainability of local government finances, and develops important findings and policy recommendations.
International Resource Politics in the Asia-Pacific
The Political Economy of Conflict and Cooperation
Jeffrey D. Wilson
Resource security is a new battleground in the international politics of the Asia-Pacific. With demand for minerals and energy surging, disputes are emerging over access and control of scarce natural resource endowments. Drawing on critical insights from political economy, this book explains why resources have emerged as a source of inter-state conflict in the region.
A General Theory of Economic Development
Towards a Capitalist Manifesto
Sung-Hee Jwa
This book makes the bold attempt at proposing a new general theory of economic development. The main premise is that economic institutions and policies must embody ‘economic discrimination’ if there is to be any chance of real economic development. By economic discrimination, the author means ‘treating differences differently’ by selecting and supporting economic entities and behaviour that contribute positively to the economy. The book identifies markets, government and corporations as the ‘holy trinity of economic development’, that is, the three most important institutions that must work together via economic discrimination to steer the economy towards real transformative progress. The book also warns against the current trend of economic egalitarianism or ‘not treating differences differently’ because it destroys economic incentives and results in an array of economic problems including growth stagnation.
Edited by M. Kabir Hassan
In Islamic jurisprudence, a comprehensive ethic has been formulated governing how business and commerce should be run, how accountability to God and the community is to be achieved, and how banking and finance is to be arranged. This Handbook examines how well these values are translated into actual performance. It explores whether those holding true to the system are hindered and put at a disadvantage or whether the Islamic institutions have been able to demonstrate that faith-based activities can be rewarding, both economically and spiritually.
Macroprudential Regulation of International Finance
Managing Capital Flows and Exchange Rates
Edited by Dongsoo Kang and Andrew Mason
Recent events, such as capital flow reversals and banking sector crises, have shaken faith in the widely held belief in the benefits of greater financial integration and financial deepening, which are typical in advanced economies. This book shows that emerging economies have often weathered the storm best despite the supposed burden of ‘weak institutions’. It demonstrates that a better policy framework requires reliable indicators of vulnerability to financial instability, as well as improved policy tools and automatic stabilizers that anticipate and limit the vulnerabilities to financial crises.
The Asian ‘Poverty Miracle’
Impressive Accomplishments or Incomplete Achievements?
Edited by Jacques Silber and Guanghua Wan
Following rapid economic growth in recent decades, Asia and the Pacific experienced an impressive reduction in extreme poverty, but this drop was not uniform and achievements are still incomplete. Vulnerability to natural disasters, the increasing impact of climate change and economic crises should all be taken into account. There is also a need to consider the multidimensional nature of poverty and the non-uniformity of the decrease across different ethnic groups. This book explores the Asian ‘poverty miracle’ and argues for the development and use of an Asia-specific poverty line.