A Leading Indicators Comparison of the United States and Japanese Economies
The United States has for more than a century maintained the largest economy in the world. Japan, on the other hand, currently has the third largest economy in the world (according to some estimates) after realizing incredible growth since the damage and ruin it experienced during World War II (BBC, 2015). This essay compares and contrasts the current economies of the United States and Japan in terms of three leading economic indicators: real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), inflation, and unemployment. While some similarities exist between the two economies this comparison will highlight what the differences mean in terms of economic health for the two countries.
Real GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
One of the most comprehensive measurements of the health and well-being of a country’s economy is considered real GDP (AIAA, 2003). Real GDP is defined as the “value of the entire output produced annually within a country’s boundaries, adjusted for price changes” (Arnold, 2011, p. 145). According to the American Association of Individual Investors (AIAA), (2003), real GDP indicates “how fast [a country’s] profits may grow and the expected return on capital” (p. 14). A country’s actual GDP can increase or decrease due to changes in inflation, so since real GDP is adjusted for changes in price, it is a truer measurement for comparison purposes. To present an apples to apples comparison, this section will
The Economic Effect on Japan during Post World War II Japan’s economy was greatly affected by the atomic bombs dropped on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan’s economic recovery as a result of this incident transformed Japan’s economic growth which has become known as the “Economic Miracle.” The bombs caused Japan to reconstruct many more facilities in which the economy moved forward. The Economic Planning Agency, which used to be known as the Economic Stabilization Board, helped Japan to become one of the leading economic nations. The United States also contributed to much of Japan’s recovery by occuping it from 1945-1951.
In Peter Duus’ Japanese Discovery of America, the author shows the learning experience that Japan went through in order to become one of the strongest countries in the early 20th century. From 1797 when the first American ship arrived in Japan, to 1879 when President Grant visited the Meiji emperor, Japan, not one of the strongest countries economically and militarily at the time, had interactions with multiple countries that included Russia, England and Portugal. However, Japan’s Confucianism belief and the development of the Tokaido Road served as roots for their quick rise to modernization. Even though multiple countries were cooperating with Japan, the relations with the United States proved to be the most
Before America entered WWII, the U.S. and Japan were trading partners. However, Japan had been involved in the Pacific Theater of WWII, conquering land across Asia and the Pacific Ocean, before the U.S. joined the war. As a result, American resources had aided Japan in imperializing other nations. Critical of America’s relationship with Japan, Dr. Seuss released a political cartoon, shown above. In the cartoon, a man wearing a sweater labeled “Japan” shops at a store run by a bird, which dons a hat with a U.S. flag design. The Japanese man orders “kerosene, some excelsior and a blow torch”, claiming his mother wishes to “bake a cake” (Seuss, “Gimme some kerosene, some excelsior and a blow torch. Ma wants to bake a cake”). Using these details,
GDP, or gross domestic product, is the sum total value of all goods and services produced by a country within a given year. To achieve this sum, everything produced and exported, all of the money spent by consumers and government, investments, and many other contributing factors are calculated and combined. A nation’s GDP is used as the main indicator of the economic status of that nation. In general, the higher a country’s GDP is, the greater the health of that country’s economy. However, GDP is not as helpful or accurate a calculation as “real GDP”. Real GDP is a term that refers
Normally, real GDP is a much better measurement then nominal GDP for the basic fact that the value of a loaf of bread is remained unchanged, but because of the fluctuation of the inflation, that makes it market price different.
The United States of America is one of the world leading economic powers in the world. The question is, how does the Unites States compare to other nation powers.Australia ,Cananda , China and Britain are just a few of the nation powers that can compare to the United states. This report will focus more one of the main rivials to the United States and that is Japan. Here is just a sample of Japans Numbers for 2004 compared to the United States. Unite States GDP growth is 4.30% ,unemployment is 5.60% and Inflation Rate is 1.90%. In Japan the GDP growth is 4.50% , unemployment is 4.60% and Inflation Rate is -.04%. . I think this is an important perspective because we really do live in a global
Its actions have helped initiate new industries, cushion the effects of economic depression, create a sound economic infrastructure, and protect the living standards of the citizenry. Indeed, so pervasive has government influence in the economy seemed that many foreign observers have popularized the term "Japan Inc." to describe its alliance of business and government interests. Whether Japan in the mid-1990s fit this picture seems questionable, but there is little doubt that government agencies continue to influence the economy through a variety of policies. Not only did the American press use the same terms as the federal government, but in doing so it also helped lay the framework of the Japanese- American internment in a completely inaccurate way (Lau, 2014).
Japan’s unemployment rate of about 4% opposed to the U.S. unemployment rate of close to 10%. Even the financial debt to GDP ration is an advantage, and debt in the private sector has not increased unlike the U.S. and European countries, (Time, 2009). In addition, since Japan is a huge exporter and with the U.S. demand going downward, the international balances and growth declined especially as the dollar value dropped and the yen surged. •
The United States is currently experiencing a slow recovery from the recession of 2008-09. The current unemployment rate is 7.7%, which is the lowest level since December of 2008 (BLS, 2012). However, this rate is believed to higher than the rate that would occur if the economy was operating at peak efficiency, and it is also believed that there are structural issues still underpinning this performance. For example, the number of Americans who have exited the work force as the result of prolonged unemployment is believed to be higher than usual. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO, 2012) notes that long-term unemployment of greater than 26 weeks is at a much higher rate than normal, which will have adverse long-run effects on the economy, since workers with long-term unemployment often find their career paths derailed.
In 1945, Japan was devastated and lost a quarter of the national wealth after suffering a defect in the second world war. A majority of the commercial buildings and accommodation had been demolished, and massive machinery and equipment formerly used in production for the civil market were out of service to provide metal for military supplies (Miyazaki 1967). Despite the trash and ruins had left over in Japan, Japan was able to rebuilding its infrastructure and reconstruct their economy. It is revealed that the Japanese economy was on its way to recovery, which received a rapid development since the war, and the reconstruction of Japan had spent less than forty years to become the world’s second largest economy in the 1980s. This essay will explore the three factors account for the economic growth of post-war Japan: the financial assistance from the United States, the external environment, and the effective policy of Japanese government.
The culture of a place is an integral part of its society whether that place is a remote Indian village in Brazil or a highly industrialized city in Western Europe. The culture of Japan fascinates people in the United States because, at first glance, it seems so different. Everything that characterizes the United States--newness, racial heterogeneity, vast territory, informality, and an ethic of individualism-- is absent in Japan. There, one finds an ancient and homogeneous society, an ethic that emphasizes the importance of groups, and a tradition of formal behavior governing every aspect of daily living, from drinking tea to saying hello. On the surface at least, U.S. and Japanese
The Japanese economy, the 2nd largest in the world, accounts for 7.1% Global World GDP, at US$4.6 triliion and a per capita income of approximately US$33,550 (World Bank 2006). As a result of globalisation, literacy levels are at 99% and the general living standards of the
Real GDP can be calculated with the use of prices derived from a given base year, and this helps in the adjustment to changes in price. Through this perspective, it becomes possible for the real GDP to measure accurately changes relating to output
Japan ranks as the third largest economy in the world as of 2010. The GDP at current prices in US dollars in Japan was reported at 5068.06 billion in 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Japan’s resurgence after World War II has however reached an inflection point in yearly 1989 after the burst of Japan’s asset price and real estate bubbles. As can be seen from the graph below, Japan’s GDP has hovered around the same level through more than 20 years of economic stagnation. The GDP’s slow growth has been exacerbated by the world financial crisis of 2008. A major landmark of Japan’s stagnation has been the BOJ’s fight against deflation.
While Japan’s economy may be contracting, the unemployment rate has lowered to 3.1 percent in October which came down from the 3.4 percent that is was at in January of 2015. The lowest value since July of 1995, but as the number of unemployment has declined sharply and employment has rose. The average of unemployment was 2.7 which was set in 1953. The unemployment rate for Japan is reported by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication.