Political Economy of Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Political Economy of Japan - Essay Example †¢ The national authorities had been in favour of trade liberalization Japan had historically been in favour of trade liberalization and deregulation of all trade barriers. Prior to 1960, Japan had imposed strict trade restrictions in the form of quotas and tariffs. However, gradually these impediments were lifted so that the domestic industries gathered the technical skills to compete with the external players. Nevertheless the national authorities had been cautious about the protection of the domestic sector or the indigenous firms. But, all its qualms were erased when the newly adopted trade policy became a huge success in 1963, which was prominent through soaring economic growth rates. Despite the high success of trade liberalisation, the nation experienced trade deficits in the early 1970s, mainly due to hikes in oil prices. Hence, the nation submerged in a phase of high inflation. This initialised the government to tighten its monetary policies and control the flow of money in the nation, leading the nation to a period somewhat similar to that of a recession. These external factors also made them impose certain restrictions on their international trade arena (Ho, 1977). †¢ The national authorities of Japan had been more or less against liberalisation and deregulation between 1970s and 1990s The Japanese economy, unlike its neighbours had remained stringent regarding international trade relations prior to the East Asian crisis of 1997.