The rise and relative decline of the Japanese economy has been an important feature of the world economy over the last decade. In this innovative book, distinguished experts re-evaluate commonly held perceptions in the West and in Japan about the strength of the economy. They shed new light on Japan's current economic situation and prescribe policies to restructure the domestic economy in order to achieve growth objectives. Japanese Economic Policy Reconsidered provides a critical evaluation of the key issues facing the Japanese economy, and the political and economic environments that continue to hold back Japan's future growth. The contributors advocate far-reaching structural reform in order to allow market forces to dictate industry policy. They then turn to the changing role of foreign trade and evaluate the Clinton Administration's attempt to define a new approach to US-Japan trade relations. Special attention is given to an empirical analysis of the problem of overseas production. They also examine the peculiar characteristics of Japanese foreign direct investment inflows, and advocate the removal of disincentives to foreign investment, in order to encourage trade and economic growth. The authors then discuss the role of the financial sector, particularly in relation to Germany and the United States, and discover parallels in monetary policy in all three countries. They recommend regulatory reform of the financial sector in Japan to adapt to the future financial environment. This volume will be accessible to both scholars and practitioners looking for a deeper insight into modern Japan. It will also be of great use to students of macroeconomics, Asian studies, business economics and international economics.

How modern economics abandoned classical liberalism and lost its way Milton Friedman once predicted that advances in scientific economics would resolve debates about whether raising the minimum wage is good policy. Decades later, Friedman's prediction has not come true. In Where Economics Went Wrong, David Colander and Craig Freedman argue that it never will. Why? Because economic policy, when done correctly, is an art and a craft. It is not, and cannot be, a science. The authors explain why classical liberal economists understood this essential difference, why modern economists abandoned it, and why now is the time for the profession to return to its classical liberal roots. Carefully distinguishing policy from science and theory, classical liberal economists emphasized values and context, treating economic policy analysis as a moral science where a dialogue of sensibilities and judgments allowed for the same scientific basis to arrive at a variety of policy recommendations. Using the University of Chicago-one of the last bastions of classical liberal economics-as a case study, Colander and Freedman examine how both the MIT and Chicago variants of modern economics eschewed classical liberalism in their attempt to make economic policy analysis a science. By examining the way in which the discipline managed to lose its bearings, the authors delve into such issues as the development of welfare economics in relation to economic science, alternative voices within the Chicago School, and exactly how Friedman got it wrong. Contending that the division between science and prescription needs to be restored, Where Economics Went Wrong makes the case for a more nuanced and self-aware policy analysis by economists.

For the economics profession, issues of marketing and ideology have often been reduced to the status of 'the love that dare not speak its name'. This volume brings these issues out of the closet and examines what effect, if any, these factors have in shaping the contours of the discipline. The way in which economists face policy issues is in part driven, even if only subconsciously, by unacknowledged ideological concerns and the increasing need to sell one's theories, views and policies in a frustratingly competitive academic market. In seven carefully and provocatively granulated chapters, the volume raises possible implications of these marketing and ideological imperatives by approaching the problem from a number of surprising and irreverent directions. Though unfortunately, in its irrevocable denouement the text proves incapable of creating anything resembling a life changing experience let alone coming to any definite and irrefutable conclusions. Like life itself, economics is full of uncertainties and uncontrollable difficulties.

For the economics profession, issues of marketing and ideology have often been reduced to the status of 'the love that dare not speak its name'. This volume brings these issues out of the closet and examines what effect, if any, these factors have in shaping the contours of the discipline. The way in which economists face policy issues is in part driven, even if only subconsciously, by unacknowledged ideological concerns and the increasing need to sell one's theories, views and policies in a frustratingly competitive academic market. In seven carefully and provocatively granulated chapters, the volume raises possible implications of these marketing and ideological imperatives by approaching the problem from a number of surprising and irreverent directions. Though unfortunately, in its irrevocable denouement the text proves incapable of creating anything resembling a life changing experience let alone coming to any definite and irrefutable conclusions. Like life itself, economics is full of uncertainties and uncontrollable difficulties.

George Stigler (1911-1991) was unquestionably one of the post-war giants of the economics profession. Along with such compatriots as Milton Friedman, Aaron Director, Gary Becker and others at Chicago, he would manage to radically reshape the contours of the discipline, engineering a virtual counter-revolution against the previous post-war consensus. Stigler essentially pioneered the fields of industrial organisation and regulatory economics while contributing landmark studies to the history of economic thought. George Stigler was awarded a much-deserved Nobel Prize in 1982. At heart always a shy boy from the provinces, defending himself and his beliefs against the demands of a more wicked and devious world, he remained one of the only truly inscrutable figures in the history of modern economics. A kind, deeply caring family man, he fended off those outside his inner circle by employing a razor sharp, and often cruel, wit, keeping friends, colleagues and especially enemies at an arm's distance. "... [there was] the student who came to George complaining that he didn't deserve the 'F' he'd received in George's course. George agreed but explained that 'F' was the lowest grade the administration allowed him to give." Many who had the fortune, or misfortune, of coming within the range of his sharp tongue, even in the seeming context of an innocent encounter, would bear the scars of that contact for years to come. "With a paper like this, [delivering it] under the table, would not be inappropriate." This volume is then one of the first to shed light on an entirely enigmatic figure by approaching both the man and his work from very divergent and original perspectives. Whether it succeeds is up to the whims of the reader. Or as George Stigler was wont to say, "Let the chips fall where they may."

The Last Time I Saw Richard tells the story of the increasing disillusionment of Richard Davis during the 1970s. Incurable romantic and cynic, Richard's story is told through thirteen interwoven stories. Davis, his friends and lovers reveal themselves through funny, pointed and often poignant dialogue. The result is an offbeat look into the darkness of the human heart.

The Greek myth of Narcissus, like any other moral tale, warns its readers against the dangers of self absorption. In their new edited volume, Craig Freedman and Rick Szostak gather together a collection of fables and tales to warn the economics profession against parallel pitfalls in their own activities. Academics in this field have all too often been seduced by the dazzling reflection produced by their own theoretical constructs. This collection is meant to serve as required bedside reading for all economists, a serious if light-hearted look at the foibles currently plaguing the profession. Rather than committing the venial sin of didactic lecturing, the editors let economists speak for themselves in a series of reprinted articles. Intentionally or not, these articles illustrate the intractable blemishes currently disfiguring the face of economics. The reprints are by such noted economists as Blinder, Bronfenbrenner, Fair, Katzner, Learner, Leijonhufvud, and others. This thought-provoking range of ideas is further supplemented by the editors who tease out the underlying issues by means of their own original contributions.

At the start of a new century, Japan finds itself confronted with an economic challenge that is unlike any it has faced since the end of World War II. Most commentators agree that Japan has to change. The issue is the form and direction that such a change must take. While many Western economists forcefully urge the Japanese to become more like the US, there are other academics who have registered strong reservations to such a simplistic solution. In this volume, noted scholars take opposing positions on key issues including financial reform, corporate change and international trade. The editor contributes a thought-provoking introduction which also presents an overview of the topic. The papers gathered here present an opportunity for readers to consider the underlying conflicts in Japan's economy and society that makes choosing a new direction such a difficult proposition. Economic Reform in Japan is a coherent and eminently readable book designed to provoke further discussion amongst scholars and researchers of Japan and East Asia, economists, political scientists and sociologists.

In this ground-breaking book, leading commentators on the Japanese economy analyse both the immediate and deep-seated causes that make a sustained economic recovery in Japan problematic. They debate the deep-rooted structural causes of Japan's decline and assess Japan's faltering financial system before prescribing policies to abate the continuing crisis. Starting with Japan's unanticipated economic collapse in the 1990s, the volume's contributors try to fathom the way forward for a seemingly catatonic economy. The first section deals with the entrenched structural causes of Japan's economic decline and demonstrates why sustained recovery is likely to be difficult. The second section tackles a more immediate difficulty impeding economic recovery - Japan's nearly bankrupt financial system - and discusses how regulators and politicians both helped to cause and can possibly combat this problem. All contributors agree that measures must be taken to ensure the synchronization of political, institutional and cultural structures to guarantee Japan's successful recovery. They are unable to agree on which measures will be effective and feasible. This highly insightful and accessible volume will be of interest to scholars of Japanese studies, financial economics and international economics as well as anyone with an interest in the current Japanese crisis.