Structural aspects of the Asian financial crisis

The “Asian Miracle” has been attributed to a number of factors, including macro‐economic stability, high levels of saving and investment, and the accumulation of skilled human resources, but the strategy of rapid economic development that has been pursued in these countries has left some structural vulnerabilities. Kazuyuki Motohashi, currently Assistant Director, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), analyzes the structural factors behind the current account deficits of the respective countries, and the lack of market discipline in the governance system in both the public and private sectors. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author, and do not represent the views of either MITI or the OECD.     

The financial crisis in East Asia

The East Asian financial crisis has proved far more contagious than anyone imagined likely when devaluation of the Thai baht in July 1997 gave the first indication that something was wrong, and the implications it could have for the entire world financial system mean that any response must involve more than just the nations affected directly. Nobuyuki Ichikawa says Japan, as the locomotive for the Asia‐Pacific region, must move quickly to achieve an early economic recovery by increasing domestic demand and reforming its financial system, in order to increase imports from East Asia and shore up the weak yen. He suggests that one effective measure might be for the yen to become the key currency for Asia in lieu of the dollar. Ichikawa works for the Bank of Japan and was seconded to IIPS in 1995.     

APEC labour markets: Structural change and the Asian financial crisis

This study examines the impacts of longer-term structural changes on the labour markets of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies, as well as the short-run labour market consequences of the Asian financial crisis. All APEC economies have experienced significant structural change in the process of development. A major factor in this structural change has been increased trade intensity (increase in exports and imports as a share of GDP) that has occurred over the last 20 years. Because these structural changes have been extensively induced by trade liberalisation, this study provides insights into the likely consequences of the implementation of APEC's agenda on trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation. The impact of structural change is examined using a range of data, such as disaggregated changes in output and employment by industry and occupation over the period 1980 to 1997, and data on changes in trade intensity for each of the APEC nations. Other data, such as changes in rates of urbanization, are also used to indicate the other important concomitant effects of economic transformation. For several Asian economies, the linear path of growth and structural change was severely disrupted by the Asian financial crisis. This article examines the impact of this crisis on Asian labour markets, in general, and those most affected by the crisis, in particular. In many countries within the region, a failure of education and training systems to respond to often rapid shifts in the skill composition of labour demand is leading to industry and occupation specific labour shortages. International labour migration within the APEC region is viewed as a product of these structural changes and a mechanism that assists in filling gaps in the labour markets of the region's economies.     

东亚意识与东亚秩序

东亚意识的内涵包括共有的价值观念和共有的利益观念.东亚意识有两个主要的功能:"我们性"的认同和东亚意识的社会化.未来东亚社会秩序的构建根本上取决于东亚意识的社会化程度、中日关系的和谐发展和美国在东亚的影响力.东亚认同还处于萌芽状态,日本在历史问题上的"清算意识"还很缺乏,美国的经济和军事实力还将在东亚长期存在.因此,可以预见,东亚意识的社会化将会经历一个曲折复杂的过程,新的东亚社会秩序也不会在短期内实现.但是一个高度认同,以中日关系、东北亚和东南亚和谐发展为特征的新的东亚社会秩序将会为未来东亚地区的和平发展带来持久的动力,因此,东亚国家应该为实现这一目标共同努力.     

Japan's role in overcoming the Indonesian economic crisis

The prospects for economic recovery in Indonesia depend partly on economic improvement in the other countries of the Asia‐Pacific region, says Sujatmiko, Counsellor of the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo. If Japan were successful in generating a strong domestic economic recovery, that would in turn help Asia's recovery. The Japanese government's quick and positive response to the financial crisis in Indonesia has been greatly appreciated, although not without its problems. Notably, other major powers have wanted to play a significant role in saving Asia, and some regional rivalry has surfaced. For Japan, Sujatmiko says, the biggest obstacle against taking a leading role has been its closest ally, the United States.     

Japan's Policy for East Asia

Japanese foreign policy six decades after the end of World War II stands at a crossroads. The forces of globalization and the rise of the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) seem to herald the end of the unipolar post-Cold War international system and the emergence of a new era defined by multi-polarity and multilateralism. Such global trends are manifest most clearly in Japan's own backyard, where phenomenal region-wide economic growth, a gradual redistribution of power (in particular the rise of China and India), and the increasingly important role of multilateral cooperation and regional institutions are dramatically transforming East Asia. This trend shows no signs of slowing down, much less reversing itself; nor would it be in Japan's interest to pursue any policy that seeks to do so. Nevertheless, the transformation itself remains almost on auto-pilot, lacking a clear long-term guiding vision. After presenting a brief overview of Japan's past policy toward the region, the goal of this paper will be to articulate such a vision through a series of policy proposals through which to ensure future peace, stability, and prosperity in East Asia.     

The Asian scholar and the American crisis

Abstract

National development strategies in many Third-World countries in recent years have tended to emphasize a number of Japanese-pioneered patterns, among them management methods and export-oriented industrialization. Both have been seen as crucial to Japan's rise as an industrial power; and, during the past decade, export-oriented industrialization has been behind the rise of the Asian “Gang of Four”—South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.     

东北亚能源合作与日本外交政策

东北亚国家普遍面临严峻的能源安全问题.能源多边合作不仅能有效地改善各方的能源安全状况,而且有利于缓和地区紧张局势.但受制于日本外交政策,作为多边合作关键的中日两国却一直处于竞争状态,合作只能在局部合作利益非常突出的场合展开.基于总体竞争、局部有限合作的判断,中国在积极主张合作的同时,必须提升能源战略,对日政策应做两手准备.     

日本农业支持政策及对中国的启示

日本通过农业支持政策对农业实施保护,其保护程度在发达国家中是比较高的。日本的农业支持政策经过了高关税、严格价格控制、农业经济协调发展、注重生态保护4个阶段。现行的农业支持政策存在粮食管制制度严格、关税保护政策引发的利益损失、农协负面作用等问题,目前正通过发放专项补助、改变农业结构、改进农协功能等措施对现行农业支持政策进行改革。研究日本的农业支持政策,将对中国有重要的启示作用。     

The Cortes of Castile and Philip II's fiscal policy

Summary

This article analyses the evolution of the fiscal policy of the Crown of Castile in the reign of Philip II in relation to the salient characteristics of the tax system and of the political and constitutional structure of the kingdom. The character of the Kingdoms of Castile as an aggregate of autonomous communities coordinated by the superior authority of the monarch was reflected in a fiscal system based upon the delegation to local authorities of the management of the most important royal taxes (alcabalas and servicios) and thus upon principles of autonomy and decentralization which made negotiation with the Kingdom in the Cortes, both with regard to the total sum and to the conditions of its collection, unavoidable. The financial needs of Philip II led him to try to overcome the rigidities of this system by extending the fiscal powers of the Crown by means of the creation of new taxes or the increase of those already in existence, as well as by redefining the constitutional processes of negotiation with the Cortes and the cities. Nevertheless, Philip II neither succeeded in getting acceptance for all his demands nor did the pressure to which he subjected the Kingdom generate any significant change in the nature of the Castilian fiscal system nor in the politico‐constitutional bases which sustained it.     

The great financial crisis and the end of normal

In his book The End of Normal, James K. Galbraith turned to the causes of the Great Financial Crisis beginning in 2007. The central question was if the (supposed) pre-crisis normality of high growth rates could be reestablished – which Galbraith, from the perspective of a “biophysical analytical framework” and with view to the structural problems of high energy prices, geopolitical instability, technological change and the faulty design of the financial system, doubted. In the present paper, Galbraith reconsiders his central theses and explains why he holds on to them in spite of recent economic recovery and other developments like falling oil prices, and what, from his point of view, speaks against a return to a “new normal.” In addition, he discusses what political implications follow from his diagnosis. Klaus Dörre introduces Galbraith’s approach and underlines its relevance for the thematic context of capitalism, growth and democracy. For Dörre, Galbraith shows that “post-growth capitalisms” have, at least in the societies of the Global North, long become a reality – which is why it makes little sense to reserve the concept of “post-growth society” for utopic visions of the future, yet all the more to engage with Galbraith’s call for policies suited to an economy of slow growth.     

美日东北亚区域战略与朝鲜半岛问题

美国在东北亚区域所追求的战略目标是控制东亚全域,为此不但需要日本这一战略支撑点,也需要朝鲜半岛在可控制范围内保持紧张状态;日本的东北亚区域战略的目标是恢复正常国家的地位并确立能够与中俄相抗衡的军事体系,这就需要借助美国的力量,也需要朝鲜半岛在一定程度上的不稳定状态.由此美日在东北亚区域形成了战略互动关系.     

Whither East Asian regionalism

The 1997 financial crisis dealt a severe blow to Asia's self-confidence. In the following article, Professor Ippei Yamazawa, of the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies at Waseda University and the Institute of Developing Economies, examines the effect of regionalism on East Asia before and after 1997. On the surface, regional trade arrangements (RTAs) would seem to repudiate the WTO's multilateral trade liberalization efforts but Yamazawa argues that if RTAs are pursued in parallel with multilateral trade talks then they would complement, rather than compete against, multilateral trade arrangements. He concludes that APEC could find itself a useful role as the intermediary between RTAs and the WTO.     

试论"东亚共同体"

随着东亚区域合作的深化,"东亚共同体"提上议事日程.东亚新的分工模式的形成和贸易规模的扩大,多层次合作形式的挑战以及东亚国家对重大政治、安全问题的共识为"东亚共同体"建设打下了初步基础.对"东亚共同体"进行恰当定位、设计有效和前瞻性的组织架构将决定"东亚共同体"的成败.中国应在推动"东亚共同体"方面占先机、出先手,发挥应有的作用.     

日本性风俗业与东南亚妇女的法律境遇

近年来日本社会的一些非法组织,以各种途径和手段拐卖并强迫东南亚妇女在日本从事性风俗业,遭到了国际社会的强烈谴责.由于日本相关法律制度在规制对象、规制力度以及适用范围等方面存在严重缺失,使这些东南亚妇女的人格尊严与人身权利得不到应有的法律保障.日本政府需要勇于面对现实,积极履行国际公约,强化和完善相应法律制度,树立民主国家的崭新形象.     

日本与东亚经济合作

亚洲金融危机后,东亚地区出现了新的地区主义,其核心思想是在加强南北合作的基础上,在本地区建立一个开放性的、多层次的、有大国参与的多边自由贸易区.在此背景下,日本明显加快了其参与并主导东亚经济合作的步伐.日本对东亚经济合作的态度从冷漠对待到积极参与,其原因与由日本跨国企业组成的利益集团对政府制定政策的影响力不断增强有关.尽管如此,日本积极参与东亚经济合作只是出于自身利益和维系日美关系的考虑,目前还难以真正成为东亚经济合作的领导者.     

东亚合作与中韩关系

探究东亚合作首先要区分东亚、东亚合作以及东亚与东亚合作所确指的行为体三个基本概念。东亚合作本质上是一种单一的经济合作进程,在安全合作领域存在严重的不足。其前景大致包括两种,一是既有框架下的东亚合作,二是继续泛化为亚洲合作。在东亚合作的视域下,中韩经济合作与安全合作不仅有利于发展中韩战略合作伙伴关系,也有助于东亚经济合作尤其是安全合作进程的推进。     

东亚地区主义及其发展趋势--以"10+3"合作机制为视角

本文对东亚地区主义即"10 3"合作机制的发展历程、运行机制和特点进行了概括和分析,并在此基础上结合"10 3"合作机制的最新进展预测了东亚地区主义未来的发展趋势.