Book Review

Asia Europe Journal -     

Comparative transformation. Experiences in East Europe and prospects in East Asia

This article1. retraces the origins of the revolutions in East Europe, set against the more retarding socio-political causalities in East Asia,2. benchmarks the sequence of economic transformation in East Europe against the limited and incomplete economic reforms in East Asia,3. sets postcommunist political developments in East Europe against scenarios for political change in East Asia, and4. compares the social crisis in East Europe with prospects for more stable social development in the Confucian cultures of East Asia.The article concludes with the need for negotiated democratic regime change in the remaining Communist dictatorships in East Asia.. While economic structures still require a sustained effort for systemic change towards genuine market economies, its social consequences are expected to be less dramatic than in Eastern Europe.     

After the banquet: Japan’s power elite revisited

The demise of Japan’s iron triangle, consisting of the LDP’s parliamentary party, the central ministries and the keiretsu conglomerates ruling Japan conjointly, has been diagnosed since some time now (Thayer, 1993; Blechinger, 2001). After more than one decade of an unprecedented crisis in Japan’s political economy which severely tested the competences and the legitimacy of Japan’s ruling classes it is about time to resume and to take stock of changes and continuities in her power structures. In a nutshell it appears that (1) the political system after serious shifts and jolts during the 1990s has reverted to the old one-and-a-half party system—with the conservative democrats (DPJ) displacing the Socialists of old as the main opposition party-and with the LDP remaining firmly in the lead role, exercising increased zoku control over the ministries and continuing hereditary pork barrel oriented constituency politics as its power base. The role of the party’s factions appears as somewhat diminished. (2) the central bureaucracy suffered a gradual erosion of functions and legitimacy, affecting notably the lead ministries MOF, MITI (METI) and MFA. This was however compensated in part by the large discretionary spending volumes disbursed by the merged Infrastructure Ministry (MLIT), the supervisory functions of the new Financial Services Agency (FSA), and the strengthened competences of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). (3) the prolonged economic crisis and asset deflation affecting city banks as keiretsu lead managers consequent to a series of bank mergers has seen some keiretsu disintegrate or amalgamate. Yet it appears that other keiretsu, like Sumitomo (having taken over Mitsui) and Mitsubishi remain consolidated, while some of the previously less integrated banking keiretsu continue in a fairly oversized and loosely merged fashion. Thus the keiretsu system’s micro-economic importance may have eroded somewhat compared to their heydays in the 1980s. Still keiretsu affiliated companies continue to dominate organized zaikai business interests, like the merged Keidanren–Nikkeiren.Note that the article only reflects the personal views of the author, and none of his institution.

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The Myth of 'Rebalancing' Retaliation in WTO Dispute Settlement Practice

It is generally assumed that trade retaliation under the WTOperforms some kind of ‘rebalancing’ by allowingthe injured Member to suspend ‘concessions and obligations’vis-à-vis the violating Member of a level equivalentto the level of ‘nullification and impairment’ sufferedby the injured Member. This article argues that this perceptionis misguided. The article first questions if a sensible comparatorexists with which equivalence for purposes of ‘rebalancing’could be evaluated. It then argues that WTO arbitration decisionsdo not even succeed in their limited goal of providing for retaliationthat will affect trade in the same amount as the WTO-inconsistentmeasure at issue. One reason is the use of an asymmetric andunderspecified trade effects comparator. The other reason isvery significant miscalculation of the trade effects of theviolation, as shown by detailed legal-economic analysis of allrelevant arbitration decisions. The decisions concerning countermeasuresagainst prohibited export subsidies do not make any attemptat ‘rebalancing’ in the first place. The articleconsiders political explanations of arbitration decisions. Itconcludes with some suggestions for improvement.     

The distal humerus--a blind test of Rogers' sexing technique using a documented skeletal collection

Continuous monitoring of existing methods of skeletal diagnosis allows improving the reliability of personal identification in forensic and archaeological contexts. This study reports on a blind test re-evaluating the sexing technique proposed by Rogers (8) involving the distal humerus. A total of 351 humeri (184 male, 167 female specimens) from the documented skeletal assemblage of St. Bride's, London, was analyzed for the following traits: trochlear constriction, trochlear symmetry, olecranon fossa shape, and angle of the medial epicondyle. Individual traits showed substantial sex-discriminatory capacity, with "olecranon fossa shape" being most consistently accurate (84.6%) in predicting sex. The combination of all four traits provided an overall accuracy of 79.1%, including those individuals assessed as "probable" male and female. This renders the technique useful for forensic applications. The distal humerus can be recommended for sex assessment in addition to more established markers, especially since this part of the skeleton is frequently well preserved.