Three Types of Economic Strategies in Japanese History

Abstract

Japanese economy was ruined in the WWII, but grew quickly after this war. The strategies of Japanese government used to recover the economy are analyzed through reviewing the literature in this paper. The conclusions are as follows: after the war, Japanese government had applied various policies to help their economy to grow, although not all of them got the expected result. During 1950-1970, Japanese government carried out trade strategy, which can help Japan increase exports, learn from foreign countries, and improve their industry. From 1980s, Japanese government carried out science and technology strategy, which helped Japanese to create some improved versions of technologies based on knowledge they learned from foreigners before. And during 1985 to 1990, in order to remit the appreciation of yen (Japanese money), Japanese government applied a policy called “quantitative easing policy”, which increased the yen in circulation and thus helped yen to depreciate. The first two polices indeed boosted the economy, however the last policy had an negative effect on Japanese economy in the end. But generally speaking, these policies brought Japan to a higher economic level compared with several years before when the WWII ended.