The Rise of Japan to Economic Superpower - Coursework Example

The Rise of Japan to Economic Superpower The Rise of Japan to Economic Superpower Many countries ask themselves how it was possible for Japan to grow from shattered nature in to becoming an economic super. The difference in its economic growth can now be felt several years later while other nations are still struggling to move from the developing world. In the natural world, the change is termed to be a miracle which is a term not acceptable in the scientific explanation in the description of the changes (Menton, 2003). The terms that were associated with the Japanese was the region being capitalists and being controlled by their naïve state. However, this has changed in the past three decades where it is now crowned to be amongst the best economic countries in the world. The changes witnessed by the country are controversially referred to as the great leap forward. This term refers to the conventional wisdom the country used to develop itself. The region suffered from the westernized nature of oppression by being restrained from the international market. However, this turned out to be their breaking point as it used this to ensure that they were economically stable through the international trade. Their economy has changed through education whereby they have systematically used subjects such as anthropology, political science and economics to their advantage (Naff, 2004). These subjects are the ones seen to have been used by Japan in solving their problematic. The country conceptualizes its trajectory into the predominant importance international trade. However, all these can be channeled down to their domestic process which lead to their geopolitical circumstances. Their external conditions was even witnessed during the western intrusion into Asian market and politic systems. In comparison to the rest of the world, one would realize that Japan has established its domestic conditions to establish their external dominance and recovery. Their internal monitoring and development are the attributes used in understanding their escape from the indirect colonialism by the superpower countries (Menton, 2003). The changes experienced by the country during the transition into the modern world have been compared to the Marxism traditions. The move from a wasted nation into becoming a superpower cannot be explained easily unless one looks at the internal dimension which the western countries ignored. The Transition to Modernity and the International Environment The country enjoyed numerous negativities from the rest of the world which is nowadays reported to the advantageous factor that it used. The country has always been rendered to have a lot of their people living in impoverished state though it enjoys a paucity of natural resources. This quality had been ignored by the western countries, which concentrated on restraining them. The country had been ignored and it was termed to have nothing to offer to the foreign manufactures and their market would not meet the demand of raw materials to the western industry (Naff, 2004). The regions that were always looked at in the Asian market were China, Indonesia and India. It is believed that the country decided to enter into the market through a forceful nature through the help of its regime. The Tokugawa regime embarked on a strategy of avoiding being dominated by any imperialist powers. Their anxiety was built on the interest by the Russian government into making them their economic partners. However, Japan would not be dominated by the Russian ambitions due to their geographical factors. The two countries were separated by the steppes of Siberia and the sea (Henshall, 1999). At the same time, Russia was having external issues with the dominance of Afghanistan, which was an interest to the British. The Russians were also derailed by the Crimean War, which was based on the interest of land based control. Japan was also facing some internal evolution at the moment. Externally the country was facing seclusion from the other regions but internally, it was forming its political stability through ideological uniformity by the different ruling classes and bureaucracy. The caste of the samurai was an added advantage of the country. The country also ensured that it had majority of its people being educated and aware of the homogeneous culture of the region (Menton, 2003). This made them to have a developed outlook of the basic infrastructures. The rulers of the country were aware of the infiltration by the foreign individuals and empire builders. For a very long time, the Russians had been trying to infiltrate the country and break their seclusion. The successful breakage of the Japanese region was by the Russians and the Americans (Naff, 2004). However, during this time the two countries were interested in infiltrating China. The country was the region that was between the two countries and Japan. The entry of Americans in the imperialism world was seen as a balancing factor to the dominance by the other regions such as Britain. During this moment, Britain had been denied the opportunity and the chance of establishing rights in China. They were afraid of being colonized as it was the case of other regions especially in India. This so called international jealousy made it impossible for other regions to initiate a fully fledged conquest into Japan (Henshall, 1999). This made it possible for Japan to establish itself domestically. In as much as the international market had no opportunities of venturing into Japan, it was clear that the country was building itself without the help of the western or European countries. The country was in a better position of transitioning from feudalism to capitalism as it took advantage of the foreign menace. The Meiji Reformation was hastened as the region weakened by its social disintegration and disunity. The Economic Stability of Japan It is reported that Japan took advantage of the breathing space occasioned by the other regions fighting. The Meiji regime decided to destroy the government they found to be feudal and full of intrigues dissension. They set a place that had a central and centralized government which made Japan to have an invigorating atmosphere of western innovation and inventions. They had statesmen who were ready to foresee the building of a nation which was independent. This made it impossible for other countries to invade and colonize the country. They built their region on economic developments through fiscal policies. This process refers to the nature in which a government regulates its tax rates and levels of spending in order to observe and influence the frugality of a nation. The government formed in the region embarked on collection of tax throughout its region and the surrounding (Smith, 1995). For the economic stability of Japan, they took this corresponding approach whereby the nation’s money stream is influenced by a central bank. The two strategies are used in several amalgamations to direct the economic objective of a country. It is important to understand how fiscal policy can be monitored, its employment and how it works in influencing the economy of different individuals. The government uses Fiscal policy to stimulate macroeconomic efficiency levels by decreasing or increasing public expenditure and tax charges. The Japanese government also uses Fiscal policy in the balancing act where it stabilizes varying public expenditures and tax charges. At the same time, the government offers the consumers more money to spend on their personal expenditures as tax for the important commodities are reduced. The government increases its expenditures in practice of buying market services like building schools and roads. As a result of this, the government paying for services, jobs are created and incomes are impelled into the economy (Menton, 2003). This nature of Impelling money into the budget by increasing government expenditure and decreasing taxation is also referred to as pump priming. At the same time, levels of unemployment will decrease. The encumbrance of future taxes is affected by Fiscal policy. Whenever a government establishes an expansionary fiscal policy, it increases its debt stock. This is because; it will be obligated to pay interest on its debt in years to come, expansionary fiscal policy in present days executes a supplementary burden on future taxpayers. The same way the government uses taxes to transfer revenue among diverse classes, it is able to run discrepancies or surpluses so as to transfer income amid dissimilar generations (Naff, 2004). It is argued by economists that this fiscal policy effect on impending taxes will make consumers to change their savings. There are times when the expenditure can surpass the revenues through higher spending. This would mean that the government has a lot of surplus. There are also times when the spending can be higher than the revenue. During this time, the government’s budget is having deficit. Another importance of fiscal policy is to ensure that there is change in the aggregate demand when it is a question of services and goods. For instance, this always calls for the use of fiscal expansion. This ensures that there is a rise in the aggregate demand in two essential aspects (Smith, 1995). The first one involves the government increasing its purchases while at the same time ensuring that the taxes remain constant where the demand increases directly. The second aspect involves the government cutting down taxes while it increases the transfer of payment disposable income and households. At the same time, they spend a lot on their consumption in the aim of raising the aggregate demand. References DAS, D. K. (1993). Japan the rise of an economic superpower. Fontainebleau, France, Insead Euro-Asia Centre. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/30662928.html. DAUVERGNE, P. (1998). The rise of an environmental superpower?: evaluating Japanese environmental aid to Southeast Asia. Acton, A.C.T., Australian National University, Dept. of International Relations. HENSHALL, K. G. (1999). A history of Japan: from stone age to superpower. New York, St. Martins Press. JACQUES, M. (2009). When China rules the world: the rise of the middle kingdom and the end of the Western world. London, Allen Lane. MENTON, L. K. (2003). The rise of modern Japan. Honolulu, Curriculum Research & Development Group, University of Hawaii. NAFF, C. F. (2004). Japan. San Diego, Calif, Greenhaven Press. QUINLAN, J. P. (2011). The last economic superpower: the retreat of globalization, the end of American dominance, and what we can do about it. New York, NY, McGraw-Hill. SHIRK, S. L. (2007). China: fragile superpower. Oxford, Oxford University Press. SMITH, D. (1995). Japan: the rise of an economic superpower. London, Macmillan. SMITH, D. B. (1995). Japan since 1945: the rise of an economic superpower. New York, St. Martins Press. Read More