The Sun Also Sets The Limits To Japan's Economic Power

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The Sun Also Sets The Limits To Japan's Economic Power
Bill Emmott
Manufacturer: Times Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H8E8K8

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Dated, but alarmingly relevant even to modern-day Japan

The Sun Also Sets: The Limits to Japan's Economic Power
Bill Emmott
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Economic Conditions | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Economic Conditions | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0671735861

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Dated, but alarmingly relevant even to modern-day Japan.......2003-04-17

Seeing that this title was first published in 1989 you'd have thought it to be a victim of obsocelence (and you should perhaps consider taking a look at "Japanophobia" anyway -- essentially a newer edition of this book) but it is alarming how little has changed in modern day Japan from the days Emmott first analyzed this country as the Japan bureau-in-chief of the Economist.

As "different" as the Japanese may appear or believe themselves to be, in the end they are subject to the same market forces as anyone else as Emmott argues with this fabulous, in-depth, comprehensive analysis of the Japanese economy in the late 80s/early 90s, and concluded that Japan's trade surpluses, capital exports, and savings rate are destined to subside as demographic, cultural, and economic forces follow their natural course. Must to the dismay of Japan, these predictions have indeed come about and will most likely not be easy to alleviate.

To give you an idea of the scope you can expect from this fabulous collection of essays, Emmott talks about the "Predictable 4" ills of this country, which is still quite impressive given that these may not have been the top priorities of those Japan-crazy times...

(1) Lack of natural resources
(2) Lack of a military
(3) Low birth rate and aging population
(4) Hostility towards immigrants

...but then even more impressively goes on to discuss at length some factors that were conventionally perceived as strengths in the 80s --

(5) Japan's high rate of personal savings, though understood to reflect frugality, actually derived from the complete absence of other outlets for consumers. With no opportunity to buy a home and no need for a car, the citizenry had nothing else to do with their money but to put it into low-yield savings accounts.

(6) Extensive trade barriers, which on an artificial level seemed to protect Japanese industries, actually stifled competition and drove up prices for domestic consumers.

(7) The homogenous population and practically one-party government, which were thought to provide stability and societal cohesion, predictably leading to stasis, insularity, and corruption.

(8) The conformity and obedience which made for such a good workforce also made for a supremely unimaginative people. Japan has become an economic force by manufacturing high quality products cheaply, but the products themselves were invented elsewhere, mostly in US or Germany. This was double trouble because there were several other nations (Korea, Taiwan, etc.) with equally disciplined labor corps, capable of meeting the same quality standards, and willing to work for lower wages. But more importantly, as the world economy moved from the old heavy manufacturing model towards one based on intellectual capital, Japan found itself unable to compete.

(9) The myth of centralized planning, as is recognized by all except pseudo-intellectuals, is so inefficient that it is almost entirely unresponsive to any changing circumstances, but especially to such an enormous paradigm shift. If no one, or very few, even recognize or understand what's going on in the economy, how are a few bureaucrats supposed to intelligently direct the economy.

For any astute watcher of the Japanese economy, this should perhaps be THE de facto introduction, even before anything by Alex Kerr or Ikujiro Nonaka. Some of the statistics may obviously be dated but the thoughts and the frame of analysis are both highly relevant even today.

Book Description

Primarily a textbook for graduate and upper-level undergraduate students of law. this book is also written for practicing lawyers and policy-makers looking for an introduction to WTO law. Covering both institutional and substantive law, the textbook's objective is to clarify the basic principles and underlying logic of WTO law and the world trading system. Each section contains questions and assignments allowing students to assess and develop useful practical skills. At the end of each chapter there is a helpful summary, as well as an exercise on specific, true-to-life international trade problems.

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This is primarily a textbook for graduate and upper-level undergraduate students of law. However, practising lawyers and policy-makers who are looking for an introduction to WTO law will also find it invaluable. The book covers both the institutional and substantive law of the WTO. While the treatment of the law is often quite detailed, the main aim of this textbook is to make clear the basic principles and underlying logic of WTO law and the world trading system. Each section contains questions and assignments, to allow students to assess their understanding and develop useful practical skills. At the end of each chapter there is a helpful summary, as well as an exercise on specific, true-to-life international trade problems.

Book Description

Currently Drosophila is a dominant experimental model in developmental biology and in gene regulation in eukaryotes. This volume summarizes some thirty years of experience in the handling of in vitro cultured Drosophila cells. Its main emphasis is on gene transfer methodology, cell responses to heat shock, hormonal regulation of genes, and on the expression and mobility of transposable elements.

Key Features
* Some thirty years of experience in handling in vitro cultured Drosophila cells
* Cell cultures which provide material for a multiplicity of biochemical approaches
* DNA-mediated gene transfer as an irreplaceable tool for analyzing basic mechanisms of regulation
* Drosophila cell lines which qualify them for use in biotechnology

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Drosophila: Cells in Culture
Guy Echalier
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUDJYM

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Computer Applications in the Polymer Laboratory (Acs Symposium Series)

Manufacturer: Amer Chemical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Chemical | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Polymer Chemistry | Chemical | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General & Reference | Chemistry | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Polymers & Macromolecules | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0841209774

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Response of polymers to tensil impact: I. an integral-equation, successive-substitution solution for use in digital computers, and its application to a ... report / Pioneering Research Laboratory)
Prescott D Crout
Manufacturer: Pioneering Research Laboratory, U.S. Army Natick Laboratories
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007GT292

Book Description

Nobel laureate Erwin Schrödinger was one of the most distinguished scientists and philosophers of the twentieth century, and his lectures are legendary. Here the texts of two of Schrödinger's most famous lecture series are made available again. In the first, entitled "Nature and the Greeks," Schrödinger offers a historical account of the scientific world picture. In the second, called "Science and Humanism," he addresses fundamental questions about the link between scientific and spiritual matters. As Roger Penrose confirms, these are the profound thoughts of a great mind, and as relevant today as when they were first published in the 1950s.

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Promise not delivered

The Best of Literary Spy Fiction

The Book of Spies: An Anthology of Literary Espionage (Modern Library Classics)

Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Anthologies | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Anthologies | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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The Foreign Correspondent: A Novel

A New Omnibus of Crime

Dark Star: A Novel

Night Soldiers: A Novel

The Polish Officer: A Novel

ASIN: 037575959X
Release Date: 2004-06-08

Book Description

Here is an extraordinary collection of the world’s best literary espionage, selected by Alan Furst, a contemporary master of the genre. The Book of Spies brings us the aristocratic intrigues of The Scarlet Pimpernel, in which French émigrés duel with Robespierre’s secret service; the savage political realities of the 1930s in Eric Ambler’s classic A Coffin for Dimitrios; the ordinary (well, almost) citizens of John le Carré’s The Russia House, who are drawn into Cold War spy games; and the 1950s Vietnam of Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, with its portrait of American idealism and duplicity. Drawing on acknowledged classics and rediscovered treasures, A Book of Spies delivers literate entertainment and excitement on every page.

Customer Reviews:

Promise not delivered.......2007-07-03

I was disappointed in this book. I expected something more exciting and think the selection was poor.

The Best of Literary Spy Fiction.......2004-06-07

"The Book of Spies" caught my attention because it is edited by Alan Furst, who also wrote the introduction. I have been reading Furst's excellent literary novels of espionage and I was curious to read works by other authors he recommends. Furst is often compared to Eric Ambler and Graham Greene, whom I've read. But what would Furst himself select? "A Coffin for Demetrios" is the first selection and there's one from "The Quiet American" by Graham Greene, but many of the other selections are unexpected and riveting. The only one I had read was the Ambler. I ran out and bought "The Quiet American," but I'm also going to read "Tremor of Intent" by Anthony Burgess, "Under Western Eyes" by Joseph Conrad, "Ashenden" by W. Somerset Maugham (probably the most intriguing selection in the entire anthology), and "The Tears of Autumn" by Charles McCarry. In his introduction Furst notes that the date of publication is important for each selection because they are essentially political novels, tied to and shaped by a particular place and time. I was struck by the variety among these selections and although I had my favorites, I was sorry when each ended. The anthology is not a substitute for the full-length novels, but rather provides an overview of the genre and serves a guide for further reading.

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good edmonds history.......2003-11-18

The history in this book really helped me gain a better perspective on what the meadowdale area was like in the beggining. I found the book very interesting, because I got an insight on what the early settlers were doing in this area.

Book Description

Cruden's Concordance to the Bible—a combinations index, dictionary, and analysis of the Bible—was a monumental achievement; at 2.5 million words, it is four times the length of the Bible itself, and in nearly 300 years it has never been superseded. Yet Alexander Cruden is remembered today not so much for this monumental work as for the widespread belief that he was mad.

Born in Scotland in 1699, Cruden spent much of his early life in and out of asylums. Just weeks after completing his Concordance, he was back in the madhouse—abducted by a rival jealous for the affections of a rich widow—and committed to a private asylum. Each time he took his persecutors to court; each time his case failed because, for different reasons, he refused to explain the circumstances of his original incarceration.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 692 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Alexander the Corrector: The Tormented Genius Whose Cruden's Concordance Unwrote the Bible.(Book review)
Author: Fred Sanders
Publication: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Issue: 169 Page: 58(2)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

This book is about the inner workings of one of nature's most complex animal societies: the honey bee colony. It describes and illustrates the results of more than fifteen years of elegant experimental studies conducted by the author. In his investigations, Thomas Seeley has sought the answer to the question of how a colony of bees is organized to gather its resources. The results of his research--including studies of the shaking signal, tremble dance, and waggle dance, and other, more subtle means by which information is exchanged among bees--offer the clearest, most detailed picture available of how a highly integrated animal society works. By showing how several thousand bees function together as an integrated whole to collect the nectar, pollen, and water that sustain the life of the hive, Seeley sheds light on one of the central puzzles of biology: how units at one level of organization can work together to form a higher-level entity.

In explaining why a hive is organized the way it is, Seeley draws on the literature of molecular biology, cell biology, animal and human sociology, economics, and operations research. He compares the honey bee colony to other functionally organized groups: multicellular organisms, colonies of marine invertebrates, and human societies. All highly cooperative groups share basic problems: of allocating their members among tasks so that more urgent needs are met before less urgent ones, and of coordinating individual actions into a coherent whole. By comparing such systems in different species, Seeley argues, we can deepen our understanding of the mechanisms that make close cooperation a reality.

Customer Reviews:

How to make a machine that makes honey.......2004-11-06

Thomas Seeley has written an amazing book that will work for many different types of readers at many levels. The book outlines experiments that Seeley did with prepared hives to demonstrate the system dynamics of how a hive adapts to the resources around it. Seeley's style is easy for a layperson to read with clear charts and pictures. This is a great book to savor; read a chapter, then daydream about how these creatures could be constructed to perform their functions.

I got a lot out of the book. First of all, it's a narrative of Seeley's experimental method; he labels a hive (puts the bees in a hive in a refrigerator, pulls them out one by one and puts identifying tags on each), sets up feeding stations with different concentrations of sugar at different distances, then observes behavior to demonstrate how individual variation in bees optimizes the hive's collection of resources. Second, it's a pretty good introduction to bee physiology and the hive's social system. Seeley describes experiments tracking the individual jobs of bees as they age and, in doing so, he covers how and what the bees do. Third, Seeley reviews and describes the previous literature, giving a history of behavioral study of bees. Finally, he develops his thesis regarding the hive as a system, with parallels to systems theory and studies of hierarchies of organization.

This is a fun read; easy to get through, thought provoking, giving you appreciation for the author's work and for the creatures that are his subject.

One Amazing Book about Bees.......2000-04-22

This is a special scientific book, for the author tells the reader not only WHAT we know about the inner workings of honey bee colonies, but also HOW we know it. Through simple but graceful writing, accompanied by many diagrams, Seeley takes you on a step-by-step journey through his experimental analysis of how the members of a bee colony work together to gather the nectar, pollen, and water that they need. I think anyone interested in seeing how a human has dissected the complex internal organization of a bee hive will find this a rewarding read. I especially liked chapter 6, where Seeley explains that the bees have several kinds of communication dances, not just the famous waggle dance, to activate more bees for making honey.

The Wisdom of the Hive: The Social Physiology of Honey Bee Colonies.: An article from: American Scientist

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The Wisdom of the Hive: The Social Physiology of Honey Bee Colonies.: An article from: American Scientist

Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Science & Technology | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B00097ONNE
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

National parks and protected areas offer a wealth of ecological and social contributions or services to humans and life on earth. This book describes the strengths of national parks and protected areas in different parts of Europe and North America and the challenges to the full realization of their goals. It shows that they are useful not only in conserving rare species and biodiversity, but also in protecting water supply and other resources necessary to tourism and to economic and social development generally. Ideas and information on useful planning, management and decision-making arrangements are presented, and research needs are identified.

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