Letters
Letters Trade War James Fallows complaining about the shallowness of the American media ["Rush to Judgment," January/February]? There's a joke. Fallows couldn't say grace without turning it into a...
...Not a bad deal then, and it wouldn't be a bad one now...
...For reprint rights for all or part of an article call Carey Jones at (202) 462-0128...
...But Japan's recovery will come in spite of, not thanks to, its heavy-handed and corrupt government...
...Most of what I have written about Japan concerns point 1: that THE JAPANESE THEMSELVES see their industrial policy as having been crucial to their success...
...1) That it is regarded in Japan, Korea, and elsewhere as having been a crucial element of their industrial success...
...Asian governments require certain conditions of industries, in return for this government favoritism: For instance, they are supposed to meet targets for export growth, or invest in R&D...
...Second class postage paid at Mechanicsburg, PA...
...Indeed, the only point that this article made about Japan is the one Mr...
...The success of the Japanese-style economic system rests on its skillful combination of government guidance and private competition...
...This recovery will come "in spite" of Japan's government, not because of it...
...William S. Rogers Middletown, RI Service Call Phil Keisling makes points well worth considering for our young people as we approach the 21st century ["Make National Service Mandatory," January/February], I believe, however, there is one other benefit of national service that he did not mention...
...Fallows couldn't say grace without turning it into a diatribe on how great industrial policy is, how well it has worked for Japan, why the U.S...
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...But as long as Americans like Mr...
...Its people are hard-working and have a lust for education and self-improvement...
...No serious historian of the Asian economies does...
...Muehl's carefully reasoned and well documented argument...
...Less easy to quantify, however, is the potential such a program has for the emotional comfort level of our young citizens as they prepare to face the bewildering world of adult decisionmaking...
...Jonathan D. Muehl Pittsburgh, PA James Fallows replies: Let us consider each element of Mr...
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...This concept should not be too difficult for Americans to grasp...
...A handful of English-speaking management consultants and editorial-page writers dispute this finding...
...Muehl says he agrees with: that it is far too early to count the Japanese economy out...
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...Meanwhile, Japan is in serious trouble, and its people are increasingly bitter and frustrated...
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...Similarly, having steered money toward certain industries, the Japanese or Korean governments have relied on normal market competition among their companies to determine what products should be built, for what markets, and for what price...
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...2) That it is inherently harder for America to carry out an industrial policy than it is for Japan, Korea, Germany, France, or many other countries, for political, historical, and cultural reasons...
...After steering money toward housing, the U.S...
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...Keisling is correct, I believe, in looking on national service as a good investment for our society as a whole...
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...industries from home-building to medical care to aerospace...
...I forbear extended comment on the absurdly short academic year...
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...For instance, transactions underwritten by the FHA or VA cannot involve racial discrimination...
...government has left subsequent operating details to the private market—to construction companies, individual purchasers, real estate agents, and all the other private entities which decide what kinds of houses will be built, where, and for what price...
...We need not apply any such policy here, but we should understand how they see the world...
...One way to lower outrageous tuitions would be to halve the faculties and double the loads...
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...should have it, blah blah blah...
...This success is most dramatic in the fastest-growing markets of all, those in Japan's neighboring countries in East Asia...
...Further, since such service would be required of all, everyone would have a first level decision/experience platform from which to launch his/her adult life...
...The government has "intervened" in the market, through the mortgage-interest deduction and other means, to direct more money toward home-building than it would otherwise receive...
...3) That nonetheless the United States has, within its own peculiar cultural and political limits, occasionally applied successful "industrial policies...
...He taught four classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and spent the other days playing piano, tending his garden, and writing his books...
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...Of course...
...The per-capita savings rate in Japan is more than four times as high as that in America...
...Class Dismissed Thank you for reminding us periodically of the ongoing teaching scandal, one of the greatest rackets of our time ["Tilting at Windmills," January/February], But please remember that the scandal is not just that the famous teach little...
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...During the last two years, Japan's domestic economy has stagnated, American car makers have won back market share within the United States and the American press has declared "Victory" over Japanese industry...
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...Yet many of the fundamentals of the Japanese economy remain far stronger than America's...
...Yet during those same years Japan's world-wide market share in most high-tech industries has held steady or increased...
...The benefit I envision in national service is that it would give our young people an intermediate choice, a first step in experiencing the process of making choices...
...This is comparable to Japanese or Korean interventions to direct capital towards the semi-conductor or machine-tool industries...
...it is that practically nobody at any college teaches more than 3 to 6 periods a week, except for teaching assistants...
...It follows all the classic rules of industrial policies that have worked in East Asia...
...Mary Alice Lee Roads End, OR The Washington Monthly Editor In Chief Charles Peters Publisher Mary T. Beiro Editors Jon Meacham, David Segal Contributing Editors Jonathan Alter, Thomas N. Bethell, Tom Bethell, Taylor Branch, Matthew Cooper, Gregg Easterbrook, James Fallows, Christopher Georges, Paul Glastris, Mickey Kaus, Phil Keisling, Michael Kinsley, Nicholas Lemann, Suzannah Lessard, Arthur Levine, Timothy Noah, Joseph Nocera, Leonard Reed, John Rothchild, Jonathan Rowe, Walter Shapiro, Scott Shuger, Steven Waldman Editorial Advisory Board Charles Bailey, James David Barber, Edgar Cahn, David Halberstam, Murray Kempton, Richard Reeves, Hugh Sidey Assistant to the Editor Pam Matthews Production Manager Carey Jones Advertising Director Seth Engel Interns Scott Jones, Adam Marcus, Stryk Thomas Proofers Alan Greenblatt, John Kalajian Subscription rates: U.S...
...Similarly, the U.S...
...Here we have the familiar all-or-nothing thinking that I criticized in my article and that has made it so hard to come to terms with what Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and other countries have achieved...
...Muehl think that economies are run by industry, or by government, but never by a combination of the two, we'll continue to be puzzled by the world's fastest-growing economies...
...After all, the same is true of U.S...
...The process of coming to grips with making decisions that affect our lives is usually a difficult and scary one for the young, and the fear of "making a mistake" and having your "whole life" ruined often creates a sort of paralysis that is a tough hurdle to jump...
...Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope...
...The Japanese are in "serious trouble...
...Together these mean the Japanese industries can afford to make mistakes—as they did in their choice of an HDTV standard—that would ruin competitors in the United States...
...government imposes conditions on the housing market...
...When Charles Peters was at Columbia, I was at the University of Wisconsin, living in the household of a distinguished language professor...
...Well, their stock market is, and so is the Liberal Democratic Party, which has been kicked out of the prime ministership for the first time since 1955...
...Apparently it must be some other writing of mine that has gotten him riled up—and those other writings have made three main points about industrial policy...
...Reprints of articles are available to individuals or schools at $2.00 each (prepaid...
...Neither in this article nor anywhere else have I said how "great" industrial policy is...
...The industrial investment rate is about twice as high...
...Printed in U.S.A...
...Will Japan bounce back...
...That is, in the fastest-growing markets in the world, the markets outside the United States, Japanese companies continue to gain ground...
...The clearest example is America's 20th-century policy of stimulating the home-building industry...
Vol. 26 • January 1994 • No. 4
