Discusses how America went from being the world's largest creditor to world's largest debtor in the eight years between 1980 and 1988, due to excessive borrowing from Japan during the Reagan presidency.

This eye-opening book offers a disturbing new look at Japan's post-war economy and the key factors that shaped it. It gives special emphasis to the 1980s and 1990s when Japan's economy experienced vast swings in activity. According to the author, the most recent upheaval in the Japanese economy is the result of the policies of a central bank less concerned with stimulating the economy than with its own turf battles and its ideological agenda to change Japan's economic structure. The book combines new historical research with an in-depth behind-the-scenes account of the bureaucratic competition between Japan's most important institutions: the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan. Drawing on new economic data and first-hand eyewitness accounts, it reveals little known monetary policy tools at the core of Japan's business cycle, identifies the key figures behind Japan's economy, and discusses their agenda. The book also highlights the implications for the rest of the world, and raises important questions about the concentration of power within central banks.

"A penetrating overview of Japan, from a historical, social, political, economic, and cultural perspective"--

The violent fluctuations of the Japanese yen through the 1980s and 1990s have played a critical role in Japan's economic decline. Brendan Brown highlights the causes of the yen's bizzare behaviour, and analyses the consequences for the Japanese and global economies. Through this analysis he presents an original hypothesis, linking the periodic sharp upswings of the Yen to poor economic performance and offers a new view as to where the responsibility for failure of the Japanese currency market to function normally lies.

In this important new book, C.H. Kwan asks whether the Japanese yen can, or will, replace the dollar as the key currency in East Asia. Kwan analyzes the implications for Japan and Asia's developing countries should they come together to form a yen bloc—a grouping of countries that use the yen as an international currency and maintain stable exchange rates against the yen. Combining academic analysis with his experience advising the Japanese prime minister and the Japanese minister of finance, Kwan concludes that a yen bloc might benefit Asia's developing countries—as well as Japan—while contributing to a more stable international monetary order. Kwan's book represents the first attempt to explore systematically the possibility of monetary integration in Asia. It also provides a vision for regional integration in Asia in the twenty-first century.

The decision of the G-5 countries to appreciate the yen during the Plaza accord was of great significance for Japan because this was the sharpest appreciation among the leading currencies. The author assesses how both developing and industrialized economies felt the full force of this expansion.