Features of the economic development of Japan. The political development of Japan in the second half of the 20th century

Japan embarked on the path of development of capitalism at a time when world capitalism was passing to the stage of imperialism. The reforms that established the capitalist order were carried out in Japan only in the 70s of the XIX century.

Features of feudalism in Japan and its expansion
Feudalism in Japan was a type of Oriental feudalism or the Asiatic mode of production. The emperor (tenno or mikado), as well as his vassals - princes (daimyo) were considered the supreme owner of the land. Japan was divided into feudal principalities, with each principality being independent state- had its own troops, collected duties at the borders. Japan was a feudal-fragmented state.
The emperor was only nominally the head of Japan. The real power was in the hands of the shogun - the commander in chief. In the 17th century the position of shogun was seized by princes from the Tokugawa clan, and therefore the period of history from the 17th century. before the bourgeois revolution is called the period of the Tokugawa shogunate.
The feudal class in Japan was made up of samurai - military personnel. It should be emphasized that in Japan, except for the samurai, no one was allowed to serve in the military; representatives of other classes were even forbidden to take up arms on pain of death.
The entire population of Japan was divided into 4 classes: samurai, peasants, artisans and merchants, and the transition from one class to another was strictly prohibited. The seclusion of the estates, characteristic of feudalism in general, was brought here to the limit. Laws even determined the food, clothing and life of each class. So, the peasants were forbidden to eat rice, and they could only wear linen or cotton clothes. Silk could only be worn by samurai. All classes were powerless before the samurai. A samurai would kill a commoner only to "test a new weapon" or for simple impoliteness.
At the same time, the estates of artisans and merchants officially occupied a lower position than the peasants. Trade and craft were considered humiliating occupations. In addition, the property of these urban estates was not protected by law; on the contrary, the laws of the states from time to time exempted the samurai from returning debts to merchants and usurers.
Naturally, in such conditions, trade and craft developed extremely slowly. The population of the cities consisted mainly of samurai. At the beginning of the XVII century. samurai made up 3/4 of the urban population of Japan, and artisans and merchants - only 1/4.
The natural nature of the economy was also manifested in the fact that taxes were collected in kind, and the salaries of the samurai were paid in kind - rice. And in the Japanese market, barter was widely practiced, and rice was also used as a measure of value.
Samurai were not landlords, they did not have land holdings with peasants. For their service, they received a "rice ration" - from 5 to 15 tons of rice per year. The state received this rice from the peasants in the form of a military tax, i.e. tax on the maintenance of the samurai army. This tax can also be regarded as a "centralized" rent, since the feudal estate existed at the expense of it. According to the law, peasants had to give 40% of the harvest as a tax, but in practice its value was 50-70% of the harvest.
Since there were no landlords, there was no corvée either. But there was state labor service, public works, characteristic of the Asian mode of production: the peasants built canals, roads, transported various goods, etc.
The disintegration of feudalism began at the end of the 17th century. It manifested itself in the destruction of the class structure and the development of usury. Under the conditions of feudal Japan, other areas of business were almost closed. The development of domestic trade was hampered by the extreme narrowness of the domestic market and feudal fragmentation, and foreign trade was completely prohibited. The absence of a sufficiently wide sales market did not allow the development of large-scale industry. Usury turned out to be the only way to use money and received an exaggerated and ugly development.
First of all, peasants fell into bondage to usurers. They pledged their land to secure their debt. This was illegal because the land was not the property of the peasants and its mortgage was prohibited. When the peasant could not repay the debt with interest, the usurer, again bypassing the law, became the owner of his land. The peasant continued to farm on this land, pay taxes to the prince, but now he had to pay in addition to this and rent land owner. These new owners were called "new landowners" - jinushi. By the middle of the XIX century. a third of the cultivated land passed into the possession of the jinushi, and a third of the peasants found themselves in the position of bonded tenants.
Thus, the system of land tenure turned out to be very complex: the supreme owner of the land was the emperor, the “legitimate” one was the prince, the additional “illegal” one was the jinushi, and the farmer on this land was managed by the peasant.
But samurai also fell into bondage to usurers. The in-kind form of their salary inevitably led to this: to satisfy their needs, the samurai needed money, and not just rice. Money could be obtained from moneylenders. In the XVIII century. a special guild of usurers appeared who were engaged in buying receipts for rice rations from samurai. According to some estimates, by the middle of the XIX century. 7/8 of the national wealth of Japan was already in the hands of usurers and merchants.
Of course, at the same time, the lowest class of Japan (and usurers belonged to the class of merchants) actually no longer occupied the lowest rung of the social ladder. Taking advantage of the enslaving dependence on the feudal lords, they often force them to "adopt" themselves through adoption immediately move into the upper class.
Some samurai lose their service and class position. The fact is that the samurai lived better than other classes, did not die of hunger even in a famine year, so their share in the total population increased, everyone no longer had enough place in the service, and some of the samurai found themselves without work. Such "unemployed" samurai (ronin) did not receive rice rations, but lived in cities, doing crafts and trade, which was strictly prohibited by law.
In this mismatch real life law and manifested the decomposition of feudalism. The penetration of capitalist relations into the country was hindered by the policy of forcible isolation of Japan, which the shoguns pursued from the 17th century. The purpose of this policy was to conserve the existing system, to prevent foreign influence, which could break the foundations of existing relations. This policy was that the Japanese were forbidden to visit other countries and build ships suitable for sea ​​voyages. Foreign ships were not allowed in Japanese harbors. An exception was made only for the merchants of Holland and China, but even then it was limited: two Dutch and several Chinese ships were allowed to arrive in one of the harbors of Japan per year, and foreigners could trade and even contact not with the population, but only with government officials.
The result of isolation was the economic stagnation of Japan from the end of the 17th century. until the bourgeois revolution of 1868. For more than a century and a half, the cultivated area, the annual production of rice, and even the population remained at the same level.
True, manufacturing production is still born at this time and takes its first steps. Manufactories here arose in two ways.
First. In the conditions of subsistence farming, the peasants were forced to prepare handicrafts at home. Over time, a buyer appeared and a manufactory was born, mainly for the production of silk and cotton fabrics.
Second. Some princes organize metallurgical and porcelain manufactories. It is known that even samurai worked at the princely manufactories.

Industry development
The beginning of the industrial revolution and industrialization of Japan should be considered the 70s of the XIX century. when a factory industry is created by the forces of the state.
For the first decades after the revolution, private capital did not go into industry. The process of initial accumulation in Japan did not end, there was not enough capital, so the loan interest was several times higher than in developed capitalist countries, it was quite profitable to use capital in the sphere of credit. Therefore, the state itself had to engage in the construction of factories at the expense of the treasury. It invites European engineers, subscribes to European technology and builds "exemplary" enterprises. "Exemplary" - because they were supposed to serve as a model for private entrepreneurs.
Gradually, conditions for private entrepreneurship are emerging, and in the 1980s, state-owned enterprises are transferred to private hands. Since they were transferred on very favorable terms, people who had good connections in government circles. These were old trading and usurious houses and the most well-born samurai.
The course of the industrial revolution was hampered by an excess of cheap labor. Its cheapness reduced the incentive to introduce machines. Therefore, by the beginning of the World War, the revolution in Japan was not completed: 40% of enterprises were still at the manufacturing stage, 60% of the population was employed in agriculture, and Japan exported mainly agricultural products - tea and raw silk.
The traditions of the Asian mode of production were also reflected in the relations that were developing in industry. Semi-feudal methods of exploitation and "paternalism" were preserved here. In accordance with the traditions, the owner of the enterprise was considered the "father" and patron of the workers, controlled all aspects of their lives, and Japanese enterprises practiced physical punishment of workers for misconduct related to production. Naturally, such an order further lowered the level of wages.

Features of Japanese imperialism
Thus, Japan embarked on the path of capitalism at a time when the world was already moving towards imperialism. Therefore, Japanese capitalism was born immediately in an imperialist form, acquiring the features of imperialism. Imperialism arose here before the completion of the industrial revolution, while retaining many vestiges of the Asiatic mode of production. Therefore, Japanese imperialism is usually attributed to the military-feudal type.
What were the features of Japanese imperialism as a military-feudal one?
First, in a special form of monopolies - zaibatsu. These were not quite monopolies, because they arose not in the course of competition and concentration of production, but in the distribution of state enterprises into private hands. Well-connected people could take over a whole group of enterprises. It was such a group of enterprises in the same hands that was called the zaibatsu.
They weren't exactly monopolies, because they didn't monopolize anything. These were mostly conglomerates consisting of enterprises from different industries.
The first place among the zaibatsu was occupied by the Mitsui company. It included a bank, textile, mining, trading enterprises. Mitsubishi was in second place. It included shipping and shipbuilding enterprises, coal mines.
Secondly, Japan begins colonial expansion when she herself is still in the position of a semi-colony, when she did not need colonies economically. The industrial revolution has not yet ended, and Japan exported, as already mentioned, mainly agricultural products that are not taken to the colonies.
But in power in Japan were samurai - a military-feudal caste. The samurai government was under pressure from the mass of samurai ruined by the capitalization of pensions, who assumed that only war could improve and strengthen their position. In other words, Japan needed not markets and sources of raw materials, but war and new lands.
Japan did not become a colony. The unequal treaties that placed Japan in the position of a semi-colony were annulled in the 1990s. Japan was saved by the rivalry of the powers in Far East. The object of rivalry was not little Japan, but big china, but Japan was an important strategic position on the outskirts of China, and each of the powers could not allow a rival to take this position. Using this circumstance, Japan not only avoided the fate of a colony, but also tried to participate in the division of China itself.
Already in the 90s, as a result of the war with China, she took away Taiwan, the Pescador Islands from him and subordinated Korea to her influence. As a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. it receives Quanta a certain area with Port Arthur, half of Sakhalin, and two years later concludes an agreement with the tsarist government on the division of Manchuria into spheres of influence.

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Introduction

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

As a great economic power, Japan ranks third in the world in terms of nominal GDP and fourth in terms of GDP calculated at purchasing power parity. The state is also the fourth largest exporter and the sixth largest importer. The country continues to be one of the leading economic developed countries which accounts for approximately 10% of global GDP. However, over the past few years, the country's role in the development of the world economy has somewhat weakened, which is especially noticeable against the backdrop of the rapid growth of the economies of China and the NIS countries. Japan has achieved a high level of technical excellence, especially in certain areas of advanced technology. Today, the achievements of Japan will not surprise anyone. It is much more important to understand and explain the causes of the "Japanese economic miracle."

The object of study in this paper is the economy of Japan.

Subject - indicators economic development Japan.

The purpose of the work is to analyze the features of Japan's economic development and determine the country's role in the world economy.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following interrelated tasks:

Consider the features of the Japanese model of the economy: the structure of the economy and the structure of Japan's foreign trade;

Analyze indicators of economic development of individual industries and socio-economic indicators of the country;

Consider the foreign economic activity of the state.

The course work consists of an introduction, main part and conclusion, a list of sources and literature used. The main part consists of three chapters. The first chapter examines the history, stages of development and sectoral structures of the Japanese economy. The second chapter provides an analytical analysis of socio-economic indicators, economic development of sectors of the economy. The third chapter examines and discusses Japan's foreign economic activity at the present stage. In conclusion, the results of the fulfillment of the tasks set are described, all the positive characteristics that the Japanese economy has are displayed.

1. Economic model of Japan

1.1 History of the Japanese economy

The country achieved outstanding success in the course of post-war development, when for almost a quarter of a century it was engaged in high rates of development, and the experience of the "Japanese economic miracle" became the subject of study. To adopt the experience of Japanese managers from large successful companies, managers from all over the world - America, Western Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. The commercial and economic expansion of the ubiquitous Japanese corporations has taken on a huge scale. They crowded out American and European competitors not only in distant markets, but also in these countries themselves - in America and Western Europe, founded new companies, bought up industrial corporations, markets, enterprises in the field of new services, carried out new construction. The latter direction was intensively developed in the regions of Asia, where Japanese industrial corporations recreated or moved their mining and processing sectors of industry, as well as many types of mechanical engineering that manufacture components for the Japanese island industrial complex.

The conceptual general line of the ruling circles of Japan was to Japanese territory, rather limited for a gigantic industry, to concentrate the most modern post-industrial, information and technological complex, to bring "heavy" industries and spheres of production out of the country.

Since the late 1970s - early 1980s. in Japan, there was a gradual “fading” of high growth rates. The sphere of high technologies, no matter how large-scale it may be, if it does not develop in close unity with the general diversified structure of modern engineering (and on its basis), is not able to ensure the overall economic growth of the national economy, especially in the long term. Since the early 1990s Semi-depressive development is associated by specialists with the organic defects of the financial and banking system of Japan, which not only does not correspond to similar systems of the USA and the European Union, but also does not meet the requirements of the most powerful Japanese economy.

State regulation to date covers a wide area of ​​"supervision" - national standards, conditions, tariffs, specifics of administrative control, storage, sales, etc., in other words, everything that relates to methods of indirect regulation and is not always subject to precise definition and description. Therefore, foreign companies feel insecure in Japan due to a powerful bureaucratic barrier, in addition to high labor costs.

In 2001, a three-year plan for the implementation of the reform adopted by the government of the country on March 30, 2001 (Three-Year Regulatory Reform Promotion Plan) began to operate in Japan. The plan has become a kind of Japanese response to the challenges of globalization in an age of information and technological revolution and the country's growing economic problems. It aimed to modernize the regulators of growth, especially in the financial sector, which should play an important role in ensuring high growth rates, provide citizens with choice and ensure greater openness in the economy and finance. One of the main tasks of the plan is the development of mechanisms for increasing the competitiveness of the national economy. At the same time, the task of changing the Commercial Code and the mechanisms for regulating the civil construction market was being solved. This is all the more important because they are keenly involved in the interests of American corporations, which were dissatisfied with the internal restrictions in these areas of business. At present, Japanese government circles consider it necessary to make certain concessions in this area.
In July 2001, the Reform Council (a government agency under the leadership of the head of government) further deregulated six sectors: health, social, employment and labor, and environment, urbanization and education. This measure was seen as a concession to US demands.

A serious factor that contributed to the weakening of the former dynamism of the Japanese economy is the gradual weakening of the investment process. This was the result of both a decrease in the profits of Japanese corporations due to a decrease in the price level (deflation), and a huge outflow of Japanese capital to affiliated agents in the zone. South-East Asia organizing a "parallel network" of industrial infrastructure to serve the needs of Japan's island economy.

The weakness of the Japanese financial and banking system was due to the huge mass of bad debts that arose as a result of the global expansionist strategy of financial institutions in previous decades, with their confidence in the immutability of the upward movement of Japanese capital. Loans were issued easily and just as easily disappeared along with the bankruptcy of the recipients of loans. The government took a whole range of measures to correct this situation, and in 2002 a comprehensive program was introduced to "improve" the banking system, which set the task of halving the share of overdue debts in the assets of Japanese banks in the near future. In 2003, additional measures were taken through the system public finance, including actions to "relieve" bank debts.

The turning point, according to experts, came in 2004, when the growth of the Japanese economy amounted to 2.8%, in 2005 this figure rose to 3%. The Japanese economy began to grow.

Prior to 2008, the Japanese financial sector was not heavily involved in mortgages and their derivatives, and weathered the initial effects of the global credit crunch. However, then the country's economy was affected by a decrease in industrial investment and demand for Japanese goods in world markets.

Government spending stimulated the economy and helped Japan recover from the crisis in late 2009 and into 2010. The government has offered to open up the agricultural and service sectors to more foreign competition and has encouraged exports through free trade agreements.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake followed by a tsunami devastated northeast coast The Honshu Islands have left more than 320,000 people homeless and a million households drinking water. The decline in power generation and the destruction of infrastructure led to a decline in business activity on the Island of Honshu, and also caused the stock market to fall by 10% in one day. To stabilize financial markets, the Bank of Japan subsidized over $325 billion into the country's economy.

Crisis processes today, of course, have also affected the country rising sun, but the recovery of its economy continued, and in the forecast it will continue further. Japan, unlike many crisis-affected countries, has an economy that has been polished as a result of its own banking and financial crisis. In Japan, it went through a year (or a little more) of stagnation, but not depression. The country retained control over its currency, the demand for government bonds among citizens is quite high, which, of course, increased domestic debt, but helped to hold out.

1.2 The structure of the Japanese economy

Japan is a state in East Asia, located on the islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu and numerous small islands adjacent to them. The territory of Japan is 377,944 sq. km. The capital is Tokyo, other large cities with a population of over 1 million people are Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kitakyushu. Official language- Japanese. The main religions are Shintoism and Buddhism. The monetary unit is the yen. Japan is a constitutional monarchy. Has diplomatic relations with Russian Federation(installed from the USSR on 01/20/1925, interrupted on 08/09/1945, restored on 10/19/1956). It is home to the world's largest bank in terms of assets - Japan Post Bank (3.2 trillion US dollars), as well as other banks, such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (1.2 trillion US dollars), Mizuho Financial Group (1.4 trillion dollars) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group ($1.3 trillion). As of December 2013, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of over 400 trillion yen, is the third largest in the world.

The economic and geographical position of Japan is determined primarily by the fact that it is located in the center of the Asia-Pacific region, which supports the country's active participation in the international geographical division of labor.

The country is mining coal, lead and zinc ores, oil, sulfur, limestone. The resources of its own deposits are small, so Japan is the largest importer of raw materials.

There are many rivers in Japan, full-flowing, fast and rapids, of little use for navigation, but which are a source for hydropower and irrigation. The abundance of rivers, lakes and groundwater beneficial effect on the development of industry and agriculture.

Now Japan is at the post-industrial stage of development, which is characterized by a highly developed industry, but the non-manufacturing sector (services, finance, R&D) is the most developed.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1878, was a non-profit membership organization, which in turn has broad rights in the field of self-government. On this moment The TFB is the largest in the country and accounts for more than 80% of Japan's exchange turnover. It occupies the third position in the list of the world's leading exchanges, second only to the NYSE and NASDAQ. At the end of June 2013, the market capitalization was at $4 trillion. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is a member of the Federation of Stock Exchanges of Asia and Oceania. The TFB enjoys great prestige and trust on world markets, attracting a large number of foreign investors. At the moment, 2271 Japanese and 31 foreign companies are represented on it.

In terms of industrial production, Japan ranks third after the United States and China, and accounts for 12% of world industrial production. The core of Japanese industry is large corporations that have become an integral part of financial monopoly groups: Fuyo, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Mitsui, Daiichi, and others. The main production is concentrated in the hands of individual concerns, but also small and medium enterprises also play a role in the development of industry. The largest Japanese companies include Toyota Motor (“Toyota Motor”), NTT DoCoMo (“Entity DoCoMo”), Canon (“Canon”), Honda (“Honda”), Takeda Pharmaceutical (“Takeda Pharmaceutical”), Sony (“ Sony), Nippon Steel, Tepco, Mitsubishi Estate, and Seven & I Holding.

The electric power industry mainly uses imported raw materials, 60% of the capacity comes from thermal power plants. Oil is the leader in the structure of the resource base, the share of natural gas, hydropower and nuclear power is growing, and the share of coal is declining. After the accident at the Fokushima-1 nuclear power plant, nuclear energy consumption in Japan decreased by 19.5%. In resource-poor Japan, alternative energy sources are being actively developed. For example, in 2012, Japan developed a personal hydroelectric plant called "Kappa".

Mechanical engineering provides 40% of industrial production. The main sub-sectors, among the many developed in Japan, are electronics and electrical engineering, radio industry and transport engineering.

Japan firmly occupies the first place in the world in shipbuilding, specializes in the construction of large-capacity tankers and dry cargo ships. The main centers of shipbuilding and ship repair are located in major ports(Yokohama, Nagasaki, Kobe).

In terms of car production, Japan also ranks first in the world. The leading automotive companies operating in international markets are Mazda (Hiroshima), Honda (Tokyo), Toyota, Nissan (Yokohama), Suzuki (Hamamatsu) and Mitsubishi (Hamamatsu).

The share of the country in the world output of the radio-electronic and electrical industry is exceptionally large, and in terms of the level of development of the chemical industry, Japan occupies one of the first places in the world.

The state agricultural policy is aimed at supporting farming by providing subsidies and loans from state budget. The efficiency of agricultural production has increased, this has led to a reduction in the cost of production. The state regulates prices for agricultural products. In Japan, agriculture remains an important industry, although it contributes about 2% of GNP; The industry employs 6.5% of the economically active population. Agricultural production is focused on food production (the country itself provides 70% of its needs).

13% of the territory is cultivated, in the structure of crop production (provides 70% of agricultural products). The leading role is played by the cultivation of rice and vegetables, and horticulture is developed. Animal husbandry (cattle breeding, pig breeding, poultry farming) is intensively developing.

Due to the exclusive place of fish and seafood in the diet of the Japanese, the country fishes in all areas of the oceans, has more than three thousand fishing ports and has the largest fishing fleet.

Population.

Japan is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of population and accounts for 2.5% of the world's population. Life expectancy in the country is the highest in the world (76 years for men and 82 years for women). It is 126.4 million people (2015); 99.4% are Japanese, the rest of the population are Koreans, Chinese, Americans, Ainu (descendants of the ancient population of the country), etc.

The population is almost homogeneous, about 99% are Japanese. Of the other nationalities, the number of Koreans and Chinese is significant. The most common religions are Shintoism and Buddhism. The population is unevenly distributed over the area. Average density- 340 people per sq. km, but coastal areas Pacific Ocean are among the most densely populated in the world.

About 80% of the population lives in cities. 11 cities are millionaires. The largest cities: Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, they all merge into the Tokyo metropolis (Takaido) with a population of more than 70 million people, or 56% of the population of Japan.

2. Features of the economic development of Japan

2.1 Analysis of socio-economic indicators and analysis of indicators of individual industries

To analyze the socio-economic development of Japan, it is necessary to consider a number of indicators, such as: GDP, population, the level of income and expenditure of the country, the unemployment rate, the amount of public debt in relation to other countries.

Gross domestic product - the total value of all final goods and services that were produced in the territory of the state by residents of this country. Thus, the indicator demonstrates the performance of all enterprises that operate in the territory of a particular state.

GDP allows you to study the results of the economic activity of the country for a certain period of time. This indicator can be expressed both in foreign currency and can be presented at purchasing power parity. The size of Japan's GDP compared to other leading countries can be seen in Table 1.

Table 1. The size of the GDP of Japan, the USA, China and India (in billions of dollars)

GDP is used to characterize the growth rate of the economy, allows you to take into account the level of economic development and production results. An important feature is the fact that GDP does not take into account the intermediate value of goods and services, because in the final form already implies intermediate stages. After analyzing the data in the table, we can conclude that the United States occupies a leading position in terms of GDP, which characterizes this country as the owner of the largest economy. Japan ranks 4th in this ranking, which characterizes it as a developed country, with a number of progressive industries in the economy and a high standard of living.

The next indicator to be used for social - economic characteristics Japan, is the population. In Figure 1, you can see the population of Japan in dynamics over several years (2012-2015).

Rice. 1. The population of Japan in dynamics for 2012--2015

In terms of population, Japan is in the top ten largest countries, as a result, has a high population density (340 people per 1 sq. km), and in terms of life expectancy, it occupies one of the leading places in the world. From the above diagram, it can be seen that every year the standard of living is declining. The difference between the population level in 2012 and 2015 is just over a million people. The number is declining among the working-age population, and the number of people over 65 years of age is about a quarter of the population.

The next point of economic analysis is the comparison of income and expenditure of the state budget of Japan with the US and China (Table 2) .

Table 2. Revenues and expenditures of the state budget of Japan, USA, China

Having studied the data in Table 2, we can conclude that Japan's budget deficit occupies an intermediate position between the US and China. Japan is in third place in terms of revenues and expenditures of the state budget. In all three cases, there is a budget deficit (excess of spending over income), which is a rather serious problem due to the large volume of government spending, because. needs a search additional sources to replenish the state budget, which are not always easy to find.

To analyze the socio-economic development of Japan, it is also necessary to consider such an indicator as the country's unemployment rate, which characterizes the number of economically active people who are able to work, but cannot find work. Table 3 shows the dynamics of the unemployment rate in Japan for December - March 2014 and 2015 .

This indicator allows you to compare unemployment in different time periods. According to the above table, we can see that from January to March 2015, the unemployment rate decreased by 0.1%. While in 2014 in December and January the indicator was stable - 3.7%, and in February and March it decreased by 0.1% as well as in 2015. We can conclude that the weak state of the labor market is affecting the strength and direction of the Japanese economy.

Table 3. Japanese unemployment rate for December - March 2014 - 2015

To characterize the economic state of Japan, it is necessary to analyze the state of the external debt of this country in comparison with other states. In Figure 2, you can see the amount of public debt of Japan and other countries that occupy leading positions in this indicator.

Rice. 2. Public debt level in 2014 (% of GDP)

This chart shows that Japan ranks first in terms of public debt among other countries. It should be noted that this figure is more than twice the size of GDP and is relatively stable. This is the highest rate among the leading industrialized countries (eg Germany, USA, UK). The main reasons for such a high public debt can be called an increase in spending on social obligations, investments in the economy of a given country. The state regularly issues debt securities (bonds) to improve the situation, however, low interest rates, an increase in external debt, there is a high risk for investors that they will not be able to return their cash investments. Despite the fact that Japan is trying to contain this indicator (regular reduction in lending rates and issuance of bonds), the country falls into a hopeless trap and public debt remains high.

2.2 Analysis of the performance of Japanese industries

Due to the high level of development of the Japanese economy, it is necessary to analyze such important industries as the machine-building complex, the chemical industry and the electric power industry, international trade indicators, and also find out what advantages the above industries provide for the economic development of this country.

Mechanical engineering is a significant part of Japanese industry. A special place in the Japanese economy is occupied by such branches of international specialization as the automotive industry, shipbuilding, and robotics.

The automotive industry is the most important sector of the Japanese economy, providing it with strong support in the world market, since this species products is Japan's main export. This industry is one of the most famous in the world, due to the high quality of these products. Table 4 shows Japan among the top car sales countries in 2013.

Table 4. Leading countries in car sales (2013)

According to statistics, the number of cars sold in Japan in 2013 decreased compared to 2012 (by 200 thousand), while China ranks first in this industry in car sales (the number of cars sold in China is 4 times more, than in Japan and almost 1.5 times more than in the United States). The highest ratings of Japanese cars in terms of sales in the global and domestic markets belong to the cars of the Japanese brand Toyota. In addition to this model, there are several more relevant and popular car brands (considering sales ratings) among the population (see Fig. 3) .

Rice. 3. Best selling Japanese cars

As in the previous case, the Toyota brand also occupies a leading position, namely the car brands: Toyota Aqua and Toyota Prius. It should be noted that only the above models have crossed the sales threshold of 200,000 vehicles, while the number of others ranges from 100,000 to 200,000 units.

An equally important branch of mechanical engineering in Japan is shipbuilding. Like many other industries, this allows Japan to occupy a leading position (third place in the world) in terms of the total production of ships and vessels, the total value of which in 2013 amounted to 26.4 billion US dollars. As of January 1, 2013, over 1,000 shipbuilding companies were registered in Japan. About 90% of the products of this industry are exported to the world market.

More than 51.2 thousand people are employed in this industry, while 46.3% are employees of manufacturing enterprises, and 53.7% are employees of companies - subcontractors. To compare shipbuilding orders in Japan, China and Korea, see Table 4.

Table 4. Orders for shipbuilding in Japan, China, Korea (July 2013)

Despite not such large production volumes in Japan compared to China and Korea (2 times less than Korea and 3 times less than China), this industry “feeds” about 400,000 Japanese. Approximately 100,000 are employed directly at the shipyards, and another 300,000 support the activities of subsidiaries and related enterprises, since only domestic equipment is used.

In connection with the constant development of scientific and technological progress, considerable interest for modern world represents the Japanese robotics industry. As is known, given country occupies a leading position, constantly improving in this industry sector (Fig. 4) .

Rice. 4. Global robotics market

According to the chart, Japan has the highest share of the robotics market. However, in the next 5-10 years, China plans to increase the production of this type of product and take a leading position in the world instead of Japan. It should be noted that more than 300 companies are engaged in the production of robots in Japan. At the same time, it is engaged in the development of military, industrial and medical robotics.

An equally important branch of the development of the Japanese economy is the chemical industry, which occupies one of the leading places among countries in the world in terms of production volume. In this sector of the economy, there are more than 5,224 enterprises that employ 388,000 people. The largest manufacturers in the chemical industry include the following Japanese companies (Table 5):

Products produced in this industry as a percentage represent the following structure (Fig. 5)

Table 5. Major producers of the chemical industry (2013)

After analyzing this diagram, we can conclude that Japan is most specialized in petrochemical products (synthetic rubber, chemical fibers, plastics). Of course, these products are the most important article Japanese exports. To compare the export volumes of the chemical industry in Japan and other countries, consider Figure 6.

Rice. 5. Percentage of products produced in the chemical industry

Rice. 6 Chemical industry export volumes in 2013

It can be concluded that in 2013 the United States occupied the first place in this industry (for a number of years, maintaining its leading position), while Japan was in 3rd place. The active development of this industry in the above countries can be explained by the fact that the products of this industry are used in other sectors: construction, defense, agriculture, etc., and these countries are distinguished by a developed diversified economy.

The last sector to be studied in the sectoral structure of the Japanese economy is the electric power industry (electrical supply system). In Japan, it includes: generation, transmission, distribution, sale of electricity in the country. According to 2014 data, the largest regional energy companies are: Tokyo Electric Power, Kansai Elektric Power, Chubu Elektric Power. In the Table, we compared each company's income, net profit for 2013.

Chubu Electric Power's revenue in 2013 revenue increased by 7.29% compared to 2012, while net profit decreased by 18%. While Kansai Electric Power in 2013 revenues grew by 16.38% compared to 2012, and net profit grew by 10.01%. The last company, Tokyo Electric Power, grew by 11.42% in 2013 compared to 2012, while net profit decreased by 9.7%.

Table 6. Turnover and net profit of electric power companies in Japan in 2013

Having studied the economy of individual industries in Japan, it is necessary to consider international trade, a sector that combines all of the above industries. Distinctive feature Japan's economy is the import of raw materials and the export of manufactured goods. To date, the main export products of Japan are: cars, complex microcircuits, steel, goods of the chemical and engineering industries (Fig. 7).

In the commodity structure of Japan, it is engineering products (general and special) that have the greatest weight. In second place are various vehicles(for example, cars and trucks). No less significant weight for Japan's exports is the products of the chemical industry.

Rice. 7. Main export commodities of Japan (2013)

Japan is known for a large number of transnational corporations, which occupy an important place in its economic development. In this paper, we will analyze the turnover of SONY and Canon TNCs associated with the production of home and professional electronics (Fig. 5) .

Rice. 8. Turnover of TNK SONY and Canon (2013)

This indicator characterizes the economic activity of the enterprise through accounting Money received by the company during the year. It differs from profit, as it takes into account the costs incurred by the company in the process of producing this product. SONY's turnover is higher due to a broader range of electronic products that target multiple market segments. This indicator depends on the level of inflation, therefore, it varies depending on the current economic situation.

In this chapter, the main socio-economic indicators of Japan were analyzed, allowing us to understand the structure and level of development of this country in international level, by studying the level of its GDP in comparison with other countries, the population, the size of revenues and expenditures of the state budget, the unemployment rate, as well as the size of the public debt.

The leading branches of the Japanese economy at the present stage were also studied. Such industries as automotive and robotics are considered. The trade turnover of the largest TNCs in Japan SONY and Canon is analyzed. In addition, Japan was considered as an exporting country by the classification of certain products.

3. Features of the development of Japanese TNCs

Japan has great manufacturing potential and is home to some of the largest and most technologically advanced manufacturers of automobiles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and non-ferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles and food. Construction long

Economic expansion caused the rise of industry, a wave of foundations arose and capital was more evenly distributed between heavy and light industry. The increased concentration of capital began to overtake the concentration of production. On the eve of the First World War, 0.4% of all companies owned 38% of the total capital of the country. The leading bank was the Bank of Japan (established in 1882), which accumulated the bulk of financial resources. He made investments in industrial enterprises indirectly through various banks. Preference in financing was given to strategic sectors.
The financial and banking system of Japan was distinguished by its originality - it included public financial institutions, for example, the Depository Bureau (Trust Fund Bureau) and the Price Savings System.
New cartels and syndicates emerged in industries such as sugar, cement, coal, and railroad equipment. The old monopolies "Mitsui" and "Mitsubishi" have turned into genuine concerns, headed by holding companies. Other companies, such as Asano, Fujito, Okura, and others, also became monopolies, and they also received a number of large enterprises in various industries from the government.
However, Japan lagged behind the Western European countries and the USA, the share of industry in its national income reached only 40%. At the beginning of the XX century. about 2/3 of the country's population was employed in agriculture.
Review questions
1. Name the factors that determined the high rates of economic development in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
2. What were the features of the sectoral and territorial structure of the US industry?
3. Compare the processes of concentration and monopolization of production and capital in the USA and in Germany.
4. Explain why the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX century. considered the beginning of state-monopoly capitalism.
5. What are the reasons and features of economic development led to the foreign economic expansion of Japan?

Introduction

One of the most interesting and paradoxical countries of our time is Japan. The bizarre interweaving of ancient Eastern traditions and Western innovations, the complete defeat in World War II, the numerous economic crises of the second half of the 20th century - all this did not prevent Japan from reaching one of the first places in the world today. Modern Japan is not only the center of the most ancient traditions of the East, but also a giant of the economic, scientific and technical world. In addition to Japan's past, the prospects for its development and the trends that are now observed in its economic sphere are also interesting.

This topic is relevant, since the experience of Japan can help many countries reach a qualitatively new level of economic development. But in order to understand how she managed to do this, it is necessary to look into the past and look at the stages of the country's economic development from its very birth as a state.

1. The birth of the state and the first reforms

Experts believe that the countdown of Japanese civilization begins in the 3rd century, when the foundation of the first Japanese state was laid. This is much later than the beginning of civilizations in China, Egypt, India. In the III-V centuries. The Yamato tribal federation was formed in Japan. The domestic policy of the Yamato kings was aimed at unifying the country. In 604, Prince Shotoku-taishi made an attempt to streamline the internal structure by creating a "Law of 17 articles", containing the principles of the existence and government of the Japanese state. First of all, it is the principle of rigid hierarchy and absolute sovereignty of the ruler. These principles were borrowed from the Chinese model of development, but the Japanese society, which was formed much later than the Chinese, was not ready to accept them. The country was torn apart by civil strife, culminating in coups,

In 645, the Taika upheaval ushered in a half-century period of Great Change, which resulted in the transformation of the Yamato kingdom into a strong centralized state. Not only administrative relations, but also relations in agriculture were radically reformed. In accordance with the Chinese model, a universal taxation system was introduced. Private land ownership was abolished, all lands were transferred to the jurisdiction of the ruler.

Only the ruler had the right to distribute land, which significantly strengthened the central power - the power of the royal house and clans associated with it.

In accordance with law on land(khanden) peasants received land plots, but at the same time the authorities introduced numerous taxes and duties: land, household, natural taxes, military service, payment of high interest on borrowed rice. Some of the taxes were levied on agricultural products. Particularly heavy was the burden of various detentions. In 701, the Taika reforms were supplemented by the Taihoryo code, according to which corvee was 60 days a year, but in fact the peasants worked on the lands royal family and many more princes.

After paying taxes and performing labor duties, the peasants often had neither food nor seeds left. They had to borrow rice, and only from state barns and at high interest rates, reaching up to 50%, and sometimes up to 100%. To pay off their debts, the peasants were forced to mortgage their land plots or sell their children.

The entire population under the Taik reforms was divided into full-fledged ryomin and disabled - sammin. And although the peasants who paid taxes were classified as full-fledged citizens, they were all essentially in the position of slaves. In the reform of 645, official land plots were owned by officials, and the size of these allotments depended on the rank and position of the official. The nobility, close to the royal house, received land allotments for life use. Sometimes she also received the right to transfer these lands by inheritance for three generations.

During the early Middle Ages, slavery existed in Japan. The law provided for the provision of 1/3 of the peasant allotment to the slaves. It should be noted that according to the Taika reforms, the status of those with no rights was raised, turning into full-fledged. Moreover, the educated descendants of immigrants from China and Korea became officials.

The Taika reforms and the Taihoryo code formed the basis of the Japanese psonomic, social and political structure, it was a period of strengthening state ownership of land.

2. The development of the Japanese economy in the 8th–12th centuries.

2.1 Agricultural advances and market creation

The 8th century in Japan was marked by the development of productive forces in agriculture. Chronicles, descriptions, literary monuments testify to the widespread use and distribution of iron agricultural tools, the construction of dams, the creation of reservoirs, canals. As a result, there have been significant advances in agriculture. The productive forces are developing, the population is growing, and the area of ​​cultivated land is increasing. Crops such as millet, wheat, rye are grown. Trades and crafts still associated with agriculture are developing. For example, in the decrees on allotments, it was noted that taxes were paid in products not only from the grain harvest, but also from commercial crops: taxes were handed over in the form of fabrics, raw silk, blacksmith's crafts. At that time, the mining of metals was active: gold, iron, copper, silver, as well as sulfur and mica. In those places where mining was developed, the peasants had to hand over part of the received metals as a tax, in addition to agricultural products.

In the 8th century, the authorities tried to regulate trade: rules were developed, markets were created in specially designated places in the capital, at post stations, and in ports. IN major cities There were several markets.

2.2 The process of feudalization of the country

At the same time, the victory of the Taika reforms, enshrined in the code of laws of Ritsuryo, marked the assertion of the influence of the Fujiwari clan, which sought to weaken the imperial house. The Fujiwara captured the emperor and transported him to their domain. The Fujiwara feudal lords also managed to eliminate the idea of ​​the divine origin of the emperor and transfer the capital to their possessions. These feudal lords established their dominant position by capturing two key positions in the state: the position of regent and chancellor, which they held for almost two centuries.

Assessing the overall processes that took place in the VIII-XI centuries, we can say that at that time there was a transition from the dominance of state feudal property to the dominance of the property of individual feudal lords. This process took place gradually and had, among other things, the following manifestation. In the 7th-8th centuries the life of Japanese society proceeded according to Chinese canons, importance given to officialdom. But unlike China, in Japan from the very beginning, the aristocracy, large landowners, performed the functions of a bureaucracy that maintained contacts with the peasantry through political channels. Therefore, the process of feudalization in Japan had its own characteristics and consisted in the gradual refusal of the tribal elite in the past to perform official functions and the performance of these functions by lower officials. In the process of feudalization, feudal lords gradually lost contact with their fiefs, estates, which were their economic base, and transferred all management of farms to local feudal lords (ryoshu) or managers (shokon). The highest aristocracy, who received part of the income from their estates, broke off all contact with the countryside and stayed in the capital.

There were changes in the structure of power, its former centralization weakened, and from the 10th century. all local power was in the hands of local feudal lords and managers different levels. Local authorities, absolutely sovereign owners, did not limit themselves to the established tax rate and constantly increased it, which led to peasant uprisings. In the IX-XI centuries. the departure of peasants from their lands became widespread. Such phenomena were observed at one time in China, where the authorities were relatively indifferent to the departure of peasants from their lands, it was only important for them that the peasant worked on the land and paid taxes to the state, and where this land was located, the centralized authorities were practically indifferent. In Japan, the local feudal lords were not at all indifferent to such a departure of the peasants, and they began to take measures to attach the peasants to the land and to a specific feudal lord. Moreover, Japanese culturologists believe that the passive resistance of the peasantry, which, leaving the land plots, undermined the entire allotment system and contributed to the development of the estate system (shoen), caused a qualitative change in society and the Ritsuré system of laws and its transformation into a feudal society.

2.3 Formation of the samurai class

The mechanism of this transformation manifested itself not only in the general decentralization of power, the consolidation of the peasants, the strengthening of the power of local feudal lords, but also in the emergence and rise of a new class that did not exist anywhere before. This class samurai warriors, represented new strength and was formed from wealthy peasants connected directly with the land (nanusi). Basically, these were peasant elders, the strongest and most influential part of the peasantry, selected to fight the rebellious peasants and internecine war. As a reward, the feudal lords gave plots of land to the samurai for use. Thus, a start was made lazy relationships - relations of vassal dependence between the samurai and the feudal lord, which led to the formation of new relations between the feudal lords themselves. Large groups of feudal lords united under the leadership of their leader. In 1086, two groups of feudal lords formed - Minamoto and Taira, who claimed the status of a central government. The remaining feudal lords joined one group or another, depending on the possibilities of obtaining new estates from it. In the XII century. House Taira, for example, had 800 estates in different parts of the country.

Samurai gradually began to turn into a closed class (bushi), from whose environment a code of military ethics, a set of norms of behavior arose and was sacredly observed. The main of them was loyalty to his master, readiness to give his life for him. This code, as you know, in case of dishonor or failure, provided for a certain ritual of hara-kiri (suicide). True, the samurai class included several layers, one of which was initially formed within the imperial system itself. Its representatives were governors in the provinces, carried out the trial of criminals and were in charge of protecting the borders. Samurai served under the authority of such noble aristocratic houses as Minamoto and Taira. But the real strength of the sumurai was determined not so much by ties with the highest aristocracy, but by ties with the land, relationships with lower social strata based on a feudal contract between master and vassal.

3. Economy of Japan in the era of mature feudalism (12th-15th centuries)

3.1 The rise of the shogunate

The 12th century in Japan passed under the sign of confrontation between two aristocratic families - Minamoto and Taira. At the end of the century, thanks to the strong army of the samurai, they defeated the Minamoto. The reasons for this superiority were economic: the Minamoto feudal lords granted each of the samurai a plot with a high income, and therefore the samurai fought bravely for their masters. The victory of the Minamoto in 1192 was marked by the nomination of a representative of their family to the post of supreme commander - shogun. Since that time, the title "shogun" denoted the military-feudal rulers of Japan. Shogun's headquarters was called bakufu, also called the government.

The first measures of the new government were of an economic nature (the new government confiscated the lands of its rivals and opponents and distributed them to its samurai as fief possessions) and significantly changed the agrarian structure of the country: small-scale samurai farming became the main form of agriculture, although large estates remained, first of all, the Minamoto clan, the emperor, his relatives and several other aristocratic houses, Minamoto vassals.

3.2 Development of a commodity economy

The Minamoto Shogunate was the time of the development of crafts and trade, the appearance in Japan big cities. If in the XIV century. in Japan there were 40 cities, in the 15th century. - 85, and in the XVI century. - 269.

With the advent of cities, corporate associations of artisans and merchants are created. The domestic market is developing in the country. The development of crafts was facilitated by an increase in rates, in which there were a large number of artisans serving the nobility and their servants. The growth of Buddhist monasteries and temples was accompanied by the growth of pilgrims, who were also served by merchants and artisans who specialized mainly in the manufacture of religious goods.

Foreign trade developed intensively, primarily with China and Korea. In the XIII-XV centuries. there is a constant growth of productive forces. Metal agricultural tools appear and spread in the countryside, cattle are widely used for plowing, and lands are irrigated with the help of water mills. The productivity of agricultural crops is increasing, two crops a year are harvested from the fields. The standard of living of the peasantry is rising and the activities of merchants who have come out of their midst are intensifying. Developing commodity economy destroyed the economy of closed estates and expanded the boundaries of economic regions. Trade with China brought a bronze coin to Japan, which contributed to the further development of trade. Chinese coins at that time were the international currency in trade throughout East Asia, Indochina and in the countries South Seas. Their use and the general development of money circulation in Japan was facilitated by an increase in the country's production of copper, gold and silver.

Copper, weapons, fans, sulfur were exported from Japan to China, and porcelain, books, medicines, raw silk were brought to Japan from China. It was profitable and honorable to trade with China - in the 15th century. it was the most powerful power in Asia. The development of agriculture was facilitated not only by the growth of productive forces, but also by such circumstances as an increase in the amount of cultivated land, the settlement of recent samurai warriors on the land, an increase in the number of varieties of crops sown, the spread to other areas of crops that were previously cultivated only in the south (for example, cotton). In addition, in the XIV-XV centuries. the interest of the peasants in their economy increased, since the duties were mitigated: before they gave 1/2 of the crop to the feudal lords, now this rate has dropped to 2/5.

3.3 Unification of the country

Everything was concentrated under the rule of large feudal lords. large quantity lands, they also controlled cities and trade. But internecine wars continued. In 1335, Khujo Ashikaga, who came to power, proclaimed himself shogun. His descendants ruled Japan until 1573. During their reign in the 15th century. a real internecine war broke out, as a result of which the power of the shoguns was actually eliminated, became nominal, and the country fell apart. In the middle of the XVI century. in Japan, there were actually no shoguns, no emperor. The unification of the country is associated with the names of Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hidyoshi, Tokugawa Izyasu. Consistently pursuing a policy of unification of the country and successfully defeating many feudal lords, Oda came across strong opposition from Buddhist monasteries to the unification policy, which determined his position regarding Christianity. The number of Christians grew rapidly. By the beginning of the XVII century. there were over 700 thousand of them. Oda introduced a series of reforms aimed at eliminating political and economic fragmentation, developing cities and controlling trade. central government.

After the assassination of Oda in 1582, his policy was continued by Toyotomi Hidoshi, who completed the unification of the country. His reforms played a positive role in the development of the country's economy. He strengthened centralized power, control over cities and trade, in order to secure land for the peasants, he began an agrarian reform.

In 1598, after the death of Toyotomi, power passed to Tokugawa Izyasu, who in 1603 proclaimed himself shogun. The Tokugawa Shogunate continued until 1867.

The reforms he carried out were to ensure recognition of the power of the shogunate in the country. In confirmation of this recognition, Toku-gawa introduced a procedure that has received the name in the literature hostage: every second year, the feudal lord with his family, servants and retinue had to live in a specially designated palace residence, which served to strengthen the central government. In order to prevent the unification of feudal lords hostile to the center, they were settled and geographically removed from each other. Other measures were taken to undermine the power of the daimyō princes, but within the limits of their possession, these princes retained some traditional rights, courts, and administrative power.

Reforms in the agrarian sector further secured the peasants to their lands. Tokugawa established a police surveillance system in the country and isolated Japan from the outside world. Of course, there was no complete isolation, it was not economically profitable: there were controlled contacts. The central government encouraged, for example, contacts with the Dutch, whose experience was actively used in Japan to develop the economy. Nevertheless, isolation, however incomplete, could not contribute to prosperity. Strengthening stability in the country in the XVII century. positively affected its economy, but already in the XVIII century. the economic crisis began.

4. Economy of Japan in the 18th century

Japan's isolation from the outside world was the cause of the economic crisis that erupted in the 18th century. However, in the 18th century the active use by the Japanese of European science and culture began, which played a certain role in further development the country's economy.

4.1 Development of commodity-money relations and the capitalist structure

In the XVIII century. Japan was an agricultural country. Its population consisted mainly of peasants (80% of the total) and samurai. Then artisans and merchants appeared. The state and military apparatus, as well as the intelligentsia, were formed from among the ruling class - the samurai.

The position of the peasantry remained difficult, since it received land from the feudal lords under the rights of "perpetual" lease. Although there was no serfdom here, the peasants did not have the opportunity to change their place of residence, as well as their occupation. During this period, the main duty of the peasants was the quitrent in kind. Peasants were involved in the repair of roads, bridges, canals. The laws in force in the country regulated the life and behavior of the Japanese peasantry.

In Japan, the townspeople were considered a lower class than the peasants, although their financial situation was much better. There was an association of artisans and merchants in unions such as workshops and guilds. Wealthy merchants were allowed to be elevated to the rank of samurai.

However, the 18th century brought about an economic crisis. The development of commodity-money relations intensified, penetrating both the life of the countryside and the city, the farms of both feudal lords and peasants. rose economic role townspeople.

The agrarian reform of Ieyasu in the 16th century, aimed at maintaining reproduction in the field of agriculture, delimiting the estates and fixing the peasants on their lands, made possible the maximum collection of taxes from the peasantry. This was a condition for the very existence of a feudal society, the formation and development of which became possible due to the formation of large economic regions. At the same time, the formation of territorial specialization itself was a consequence of the development of a commodity economy. Such interdependence with the cessation of internecine wars of the feudal lords deepened more and more.

As they were drawn into commodity-economic relations, the samurai and the peasantry, who depended on agriculture and its products, became impoverished. Most of the princely houses (daimyo) began to fall into decay, their wealth and power decreased. Since the samurai institution was deprived of the necessary material support, it decayed. This was also reflected in the departure of the peasants to the city, the reason for which was their very difficult situation. Part of the peasants was forced to join the urban economy with the help of the "scattered manufacture" system. In the XVIII century. 90 manufactories were organized in Japan, including cotton and silk weaving.

On the other hand, the role of the merchants, who held commercial capital in their hands, increased. During this period, a layer of so-called "new landowners" formed from among merchants, usurers, wealthy peasants, even samurai. Thus, the capitalist structure gradually took shape. Gradually, the economic and social position of the cities was strengthened. The number of their inhabitants grew. So, at the beginning of the 18th century, the number of Edo alone was over 500 thousand. With the development of culture, especially in cities, more and more goods are becoming printed editions, works of applied art are in great demand on the market: products from lacquer, porcelain, dyed fabrics. Their list grew as the living standards of the population and the level of consumption rose.

With the rise in the living standards of the urban population, the development of such a branch of the economy as construction is associated. In the XVIII century. in the cities, two-story shops were built that belonged to wealthy merchants, and in order to prevent fires, the buildings were covered with clay and covered with tiles.

The development of the urban economy, the emergence of many “sedentary professions” stimulated the development of clothing production, the creation of a suit for mass consumption, taking into account the nature of its activity.

At the same time, the ideology of the city dweller was taking shape. path city ​​dweller, opposed to the "way of the samurai". The main features of this ideology were the belief in the need to defend the life ideal of a city dweller, mindful of his own business and concerned about making a profit. "Profit", "accumulation of wealth", "material interest", "one's own business" - these values ​​became increasingly important in the Japanese society of the 18th century.

4.2 Shogunal reforms

However, the Japanese, who always professed the cult of harmony, could not allow the impoverishment of the countryside, caused by the prosperity of cities and the development of a commodity economy. In 1716, the eighth shogun Kzhugawa, in order to curb this process and strengthen the feudal system, began to carry out reforms continued after 1767 by the tenth shogun Ieharu, who tried to adapt to the development of a commodity economy through cooperation with the merchants close to the feudal government. But the power of money generated by the alliance of the shogunate with the merchants became the subject of harsh criticism, and the politician Tanuma, responsible for the reforms, was removed from his post. Since 1789, Matsudaira Sadanobu also began to carry out reforms, which in essence were a continuation of the previous reforms of 1716–1735. They were based on the policy of saving and reducing public spending. Officials were severely punished for taking bribes, rice merchants were forced to lower the interest rate at which they lent rice, large landowners were taxed and obliged to create reserves in case of crop failure. At the same time, the labor service of the peasants was facilitated and partially abolished, the irrigation system was improved, and so on. Like many predecessors, Sadanobu saw a way out of the situation in a return to the customs of old Japan. In order to clean up the administrative system and improve finances, he carried out measures aimed at encouraging the economy, helping the samurai, and stopping the process of ruining the village. With the resignation of Sadanobu in 1793, his policy of "purification" social system came to naught.

5. Economy of Japan in the 19th century

Early 19th century in Japan was marked by serious popular unrest caused by the crisis in agriculture. The peasants took the floor, and the townspeople followed suit. However, the power of the shoguns remained unshakable and this was greatly facilitated by the revival of Confucianism.

5.1 Reforms of the 1930s and 1940s and intensive development of European technology

In the 19th century, as many centuries ago, Confucianism had a real impact on the way of life of the Japanese with such values ​​as the strength of the family, paternalism, reverence for elders, the cult of ethical norms, the cult of learning and education, etc.

The reforms of 1830-1840, which Mizuno Tadakuni tried to carry out during the reign of the twelfth shogun Ieyoshi, were the last attempt to strengthen the feudal system. They continued previous reforms that pursued the goal of an austerity regime. So, decrees were issued prohibiting all excesses, up to tobacco smoking. Merchants were heavily taxed. A decree was issued on "monitoring the morals of society", attempts were made to establish price controls and return the peasants who lived in the city to the village.

Describing these reforms, Japanese historians note that they pursued not only the task of encouraging the economy, improving morals and regulating finances, but also carrying out measures that included absolutist tendencies and were designed to strengthen centralized power. Thus, it was planned to establish the jurisdiction of the shogunal government over the territory around Edo, to introduce direct control over the wealthy in Lately merchants who appeared among rural population. But such a policy met with opposition in various sectors of society, and in 1843 Tadakuni was forced to resign. This marked the beginning of the crisis of the Tokugawa shogunate.

In the second half of the 40s of the XIX century. the government was forced to abandon the policy of isolating the country. The government and clans began an intensive development of European technology, but in their aspirations they were limited only military equipment needed to strengthen military power. So, in 1848, cannons began to be cast at the factories of the Nabeshima clan. Then the Satsuma clan, which built a metallurgical plant, also began the production of military equipment. The head of this clan, the outstanding politician Shimazu Nariakira, was the first to perceive the achievements of European civilization. The military and financial assistance of this clan had a great influence on state policy at the end of the Edo period. After the removal of isolation and the opening of ports, a mechanized spinning mill was built by the forces of this clan with the help of England, while the government, with the help of France, built a shipyard in Yokosuka.

In general, for the first half of the XIX century. 181 new manufactories were built in Japan. Some technical improvements began to be applied, in particular in mining and metal smelting. The spinning and weaving industry developed especially, where the displacement of the guild craft was noticeable. In addition to textile manufactories, enterprises sprang up in sugar, porcelain and faience, and pottery. Most of manufactories, especially those producing weapons, belonged to large feudal lords and the state. State-owned manufactories used the labor of runaway peasants.

5.2 "Opening of Japan" and resurgence of imperial authority

The middle of the 19th century is one of the most dramatic periods in the history of Japan. The regime of the Tokugawa shoguns, who had held the country in the grip of feudalism for more than two and a half centuries, collapsed. With its fall, the population of the country linked their hopes for an improvement in life, but the rulers had other plans: they sought to turn the country into a military and economic power strong in the shortest possible time.

At the same time, other processes took place: some rich principalities took advantage of the weakening of the shoguns, prospering through smuggling and developing their own industry.

In addition, in the middle of the XIX century. there is a "discovery of Japan" by the European powers and the United States. For 200 years, Japan avoided contact with the West, but self-isolation came to an end on July 8, 1853, when a squadron of US ships appeared in Tokyo Harbor. Squadron commander Matthew Colbright Perry demanded that Japan open its ports to American trade. In 1854, an unequal treaty between Japan and the United States was concluded on the opening of the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate for American ships. This was followed by agreements with other states, which led to the inclusion of Japan in the world market. One of the consequences of such an agreement was the filling of the country with American goods, which had a negative impact on Japanese production - Japanese raw materials and food were exported for next to nothing. The country was gripped by anti-foreign and anti-shogun unrest. They were attended by the broad masses of peasants and townspeople, the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie, part of the aristocracy, as well as large opposition feudal lords. The civil war began.

As a last resort, the authorities resort to ideology, trying to inspire the subjects with an idea that would justify the hardships they endure, discipline and mobilize them for accomplishments in the name of the goal set. This is the idea of ​​filial devotion to the emperor. The long-forgotten emperor turns into a national-patriotic symbol of the country. An ideology is born, based on filial devotion to the emperor, whose power is sanctified by his divine origin. This is the concept of "a unique Japanese national essence", an apology for Japan as a "country of the gods". This idea formed the basis of the official cult introduced by the authorities, which later received the name state shinto. Japanese scholars emphasize that there is no place for the individual in this idea, that it gives a person the only right (it is also an obligation!) - to be a faithful subject of the adored emperor, and if necessary, to die for him. Having established itself, this idea subsequently played an important role in the creation of the “Japanese economic miracle”.

5.3. Meiji Revolution and its transformations.

In 1868 imperial rule was restored. At the head of Japan is the 16-year-old emperor Mutsihito. His reign was called Meiji era, those. enlightened government. In fact, it was a period of important political events and socio-economic transformations. Therefore, the Meiji coup is considered bourgeois revolution 1867–1868, which brought Japan to the level of world powers. The young emperor, having surrounded himself with able ministers and advisers, in his first year moved the capital of Japan from Kyoto to Edo, renamed Tokyo, began to implement a program of reforms. Major socio-economic and political transformations:

(1) completed the process of unification of the state. Feudal principalities were abolished and prefectures created. The formation of a centralized state is a decisive factor in the transformation of Japan into a powerful world power;

(2) the feudal system, the feudal rights of princes and samurai were abolished; the decree of 1869 obliged the feudal lords to transfer their possessions to the emperor;

(3) all state restrictions on occupations and professions were abolished, the guild system, guilds and clans were liquidated;

(4) abolished class inequality in economic activity, freedom of trade and movement around the country was proclaimed;

(5) a new class division of society was established. If before there were four estates, now there are three. The nobility represented the upper class (it included former feudal princes, court aristocracy). The second estate is the nobility (all former samurai). And the third estate is the common people, which includes the rest of the population, including the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie;

(6) all internal customs have been removed, a unified currency unit(price with gold backing).

Undoubtedly, these measures contributed to the formation of a single all-Japanese market, a single economic space.

Nevertheless, the revolution is considered incomplete. The new political regime protected the interests of the landowners, although the bourgeoisie was also allowed to power. The highest government posts were given to the court nobility. The reforms were of a dual nature and were carried out gradually. The feudal elements were not subjected to immediate breaking, but adapted to the new economic conditions.

5.4 Agrarian reform and semi-feudal relations

In 1872–1873 Japan carried out agrarian reform. It was supposed to solve the problem of eliminating feudal landownership and forming new landowners. Formally, land without redemption was assigned as private property to those who actually disposed of it. Peasants, hereditary holders of land allotments, became their owners.

To include daimyo and samurai in entrepreneurial activities (industry, banking, trade, the agricultural sector), the Japanese government went to "capitalization of pensions", consisting in a lump sum payment of pensions for several years in advance (half in cash, half in government bonds). Despite the protest of the samurai, this measure was declared mandatory in 1876. The amount of funds was equal to the payment of pensions for 5-14 years.

In 1873 was introduced land tax - the main source of the state budget. It extended to all landowners. Its size reached 50% of the harvest taken from the land.

Thus, in Japan it was legalized private ownership of land; allowed its free sale and purchase, categories of land owners appeared; former owners provided opportunities for entrepreneurship. All this created the prerequisites for capitalist forms of production.

However, the peasants did not have the opportunity to do this because they lost a significant amount of land: part of the communal land ended up with the emperor. They went to the "new landowners", the lands that were rented or mortgaged by the peasants before the reform. Most of the peasant farms were left either without land or small in size and were forced to rent it on difficult terms. Thus, semi-feudal relations were preserved in the village.

6. Japan's Economy in Transition to Imperialism

6.1 Industrial revolution and "state capitalism"

In an exceptionally short time, Japan accomplished an industrial revolution. Not having her own inventions, she borrowed them from more developed countries. The lack of private capital was made up for by an active role in the industrialization of the state, which created a factory industry, especially heavy industry enterprises. The Japanese state supported private entrepreneurs, providing them with subsidies, exempting them from taxes, selling the built factories in installments to those industrial firms that carried out state orders. The Mitsui firm, which originated in the 16th century, enjoyed special government privileges. and become at the end! Х1Х century leading.

The state took over the construction in the most complex and new industries for Japan - shipbuilding, glass, cloth, silk-winding. The Japanese state maintained ten mining mines. Created in 1870, the Department of Industry managed the new enterprises. For the purchase of industrial equipment for its enterprises and the necessary goods, the state bought and sold rice, tea, and silk on the world market. It also participated in the organization of banks. In 1872, the state built the first telegraph and railway line, i.e. infrastructure has been started. The state organized a geological study of the country - deposits of coal, iron ore, and gold were discovered.

The lack of capital led to the attraction of foreign capital, with the participation of which large factory-type enterprises were built. In Japan, with the help of foreign loans, railway construction began. English capital obtained a concession for coal mining. The Japanese government and foreign experts were also invited.

A feature of the economic development of Japan was the combination in the same chronological framework of the manufacturing, industrial and monopoly stages of the development of capitalism. In 1880 the first monopoly was formed. The Japanese steamship company, a shipbuilding and transport association established in 1882, also became a monopoly.

Since there was not enough capital, the enterprises built by private entrepreneurs (landowners, petty and middle bourgeoisie) were small, based on manual labor and processing of agricultural raw materials, as well as on the production of textiles. During the industrial revolution in 1878-1885. 800 manufactories were built in Japan.

6.2 Industrialization and concentration of production

Since the beginning of the 1980s, the Japanese government has been changing its economic policy, abandoning "official capitalism". The industrial department is abolished. In 1881, a decree was passed on the transfer of factories to private individuals. Moreover, enterprises created at the expense of the state budget, the revenues of which were formed at the expense of taxpayers, were sold at prices two to four times lower than their cost or given away to pay off government debts. Government creditors, the Minui, Minubishi, Sumitomo, and Yasuda families, took part in the looting of state property.

Since this year, private entrepreneurship has become more active, which led to the movement of large capital from the sphere of circulation to the sphere of production. Japan carried out monetary reform and introduced the gold standard.

Changes in economic policy contributed to the revival of industrial production. was happening concentration of production joint-stock companies were created. The revival primarily affected the textile industry: in 1897 it already had one million spindles. The first cartel, the Bosei Rengokai, was created to unite the largest textile factories in the country, although manual production remained. Industries with a domestic raw material base developed rapidly. So, coal mining for 1880-1913. rose more than 20 times, copper - more than 18 times. Ferrous metallurgy also developed, although Japan did not have its own raw materials and was inferior in metal production to European countries. However, Japanese industrialists accelerated the development of steel production, as it was necessary for the manufacture of weapons for the army, ships for the navy. Between 1900 and 1913, the tonnage of ships built at Japanese shipyards increased 13 times.

Another direction of industrialization is railway construction: for 1882–1890. the length of steel lines increased tenfold, and a unified network of communications was formed in the country.

A working class was emerging, although Japan experienced significant labor turnover due to very low wages and the proliferation of apprenticeships. The work of a five-seven-year-old child who entered the factory was not paid at all. Women's labor was intensively exploited. In heavy industries, such as mining, male labor was used, moreover, otkhodniks. Home work was widespread in light industry.

Industrialization was facilitated by the mentality of the Japanese nation: age-old skills of communal collective labor, exemplary accuracy, responsibility and organization. These qualities helped the peasants, moving to work in industry, to quickly master various professions.

6.3 Economic crisis and the militaristic path of development

Despite the development of industry, by the beginning of the XIX century. Japan's total industrial production was dominated by the light and food industries, whose share reached 90% of the total production. At the same time, low wages and the poverty of the countryside led to the narrowness of the internal market. In 1890, an economic crisis occurred in Japan. At this time, prices for imported cotton rose, while prices for yarn fell, and the production of cotton fabrics decreased. The export of raw silk, which was the basis of Japanese exports, was halved while rice prices rose due to a crop failure.

Japan saw a way out of the crisis in the development of the foreign market, primarily the markets of Korea and China, in which the low quality of domestic products was compensated by cheap prices.

In the early 90s of the XIX century. Japan stood up militaristic path. The level of military spending in Japan was the highest in the world and accounted for 36% of the budget. A dispute between Japan and China over asserting control of the Korean Peninsula led to the Sino-Japanese War. In 1894, Japan attacked China and won a number of victories. Thus, heavy industry received an incentive to develop. Under an agreement with China, Japan acquired the rights to the expansion of Korea, a significant indemnity, the right for Japanese citizens to open industrial enterprises in China.

The rise of industry was characterized by a military orientation. In 1895, a development program was adopted National economy for ten years. It set the task of reorganizing and strengthening the military (armed) forces, for which the creation of new industries (heavy and military) was envisaged. It was planned to build the first metallurgical plant in Japan (state-owned), to expand the network of railways, telephone and telegraph communications. 90% of contributions were invested for these purposes. Already in 1903, the power-to-weight ratio of the labor of workers in the military industries increased 40 times. Military and commercial shipbuilding developed at high rates.

7. Japanese Imperial Modernization

Japan was the first and only Asian country at that time to embark on the path of independent capitalist development. This development was peculiar, since it experienced the burden of feudal remnants, which to a large extent hampered this development. Japanese capitalism wore military feudal character, which meant the domination of economic life by monopolies, combined with the dominance of militaristic cliques supported by the landlords. Despite this contradiction, the transformation of Japan into a centralized state proceeded at a rapid pace, and Japan emerged from a weak, backward feudal country as a "great power," which was an attractive example for other Asian countries that remained in the position of colonies or semi-colonies.

7.1 Imperial modernization

The Meiji Revolution abolished the feudal system in Japan and restored the imperial autocratic regime. The government of Emperor Mutsuhito carried out the modernization of the socio-economic system of Japan, which is called imperial modernization. The feudal rights of princes and samurai were abolished, the state was unified, all restrictions on occupations and professions were eliminated, freedom of trade and movement within the country was declared, internal customs duties were removed, and a single monetary currency was introduced.

Left unfinished, this revolution protected the interests of the landowners, although the bourgeoisie was also allowed to power. The court nobility received the highest state posts. The feudal elements gradually adapted to the new economic conditions: thanks to the agrarian reform, 1/3 of the peasantry became owners of the land; introduction land tax became the main revenue item of the state budget (the tax covered all landowners and amounted to 50% of the crop). The Japanese government went to "capitalization of pensions" - daimyo and samurai were paid a lump sum pension for several years in advance (5-14 years) in cash and government bonds in equal proportions. The samurai protested, but this measure was made mandatory in 1876. These payments served as a source of initial capital accumulation, since now daimyo and samurai could engage in entrepreneurial activity, and in any sector of the economy.

The lack of capital led to a significant participation in the economic life of Japan by the state, as well as the attraction of foreign capital for the construction of large factory-type enterprises.

The conditions created by such transformations for capitalist forms of production pushed Japan to the rapid and successful implementation of the industrial revolution and industrialization. The main areas of the industrial revolution in Japan were the textile industry, railway construction, shipbuilding, coal, steel and military production. The Japanese economy developed at high rates: for 1880-1913. coal production increased 20 times, copper - more than 13 times. Vessel tonnage for 1900–1913 only. increased 13 times. Oil production increased, and great attention was paid to the development of metallurgy. At the beginning of the XX century. this industry satisfied the country's internal needs for cast iron by 60%, steel - by 40% .

7.2 Features of the processes of concentration and monopolization

At this stage, the concentration of production continued, the structure of Japanese exports changed - there was no longer an export of raw materials to industrialized countries, but export of finished products to China and Korea. With a rather low level of development of capitalist relations within the country, Japan began to export capital to China, Korea and Taiwan.

The working conditions of Japanese workers were difficult: the length of the working day reached 15–18 hours, although wages increased slightly during the boom years. The number of workers in 1914 amounted to 1 million people. The labor of women and children was widely used. The working day of children and women was different from the work of adults, but paid ten times cheaper. Even in industry, remnants of the feudal order were preserved - physical punishment of workers was used.

The impetus for further monopolization was given by the financial crisis of 1897–1898. and the worldwide overproduction crisis of 1900–1903. Japanese monopolies immediately took shape as financial and industrial groups, which was explained by the "state" nature of Japanese capitalism - state-monopoly capitalism arose here earlier. Another difference in the process of monopolization in Japan is the spread of influence in various directions due to the chronic lack of capital. With this nature of monopolization, competition was weakened, and factory goods, for example, in the textile industry, where small manufactories predominated, provided a steady profit and without control over the entire market.

7.3 Course towards the militarization of the economy

At the end of the XIX century. Japan's interests in the Far East clashed with those of China, Korea, and Russia. Contradictions between Japan and China led to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. During the war, Japan won a number of victories. The conduct of the war gave impetus to the development of heavy industry. Having concluded an agreement with China, Japan received the rights to the expansion of Korea, a substantial indemnity, the right of Japanese citizens to engage in business in China. This was also a stimulus for the development of industry.

Under pressure from Russia and France and Germany, which joined it, Japan was forced to give up its claims to the Liaodong Peninsula in exchange for additional indemnity from China. Relations between the two countries - Russia and Japan - were seriously complicated. The Japanese government adopted a ten-year program to prepare for war with Russia. 90% of the contribution received from China was invested in its implementation. The level of military spending in Japan in the 90s of the XIX century. was the highest in the world - 36% of the budget was allocated to them.

The aspirations of young Japanese capitalism towards China and Korea led to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. The entire economy of the country was put on a war footing. Internal loans, including forced ones, were widespread. The land tax increased from 3 to 17%. Real wages fell by 20%. The curtailment of civilian industries led to unemployment. The area under crops has been reduced. The country's foreign debt increased - 60% of military spending was covered by foreign loans.

7.4 Economic expansion and financial and banking system

Having won the Russo-Japanese War, Japan captured South Manchuria, as well as South Sakhalin. Japanese monopolies rushed to the territory of these countries. The share of Japanese goods in the imports of Korea and Manchuria is now 74% and 60%, respectively. Special colonial banks were created. In 1906, a semi-state concern was formed, which began the construction of the South Manchurian Railway. For 1900–1914 Japanese investment in these countries increased from $1 million to $220 million.

Economic expansion caused the rise of industry, a wave of foundations arose and capital was more evenly distributed between heavy and light industry. The concentration and centralization of capital intensified, it began to overtake the concentration of production. On the eve of the First World War, 0.4% of all companies owned 38% of the total capital of the country. The leading bank was the Bank of Japan (established in 1882), which accumulated the bulk of financial resources. He made investments in industrial enterprises indirectly through various banks. Preference in financing was given to strategic sectors. The financial and banking system of Japan was distinguished by its originality - it included public financial institutions, for example, the Depository Bureau (Trust Fund Bureau) and the Price Savings System.

In industries such as sugar, cement, coal, railway equipment, new cartels and syndicates arose. The old monopolies "Mitsui" and "Mitsubishi" have turned into genuine concerns, headed by holding companies."Asano", "Fujito", "Okura" became monopolies, which also received from the government a number of large enterprises in various industries.

7.5 The upward wave of the third macrocycle in Japanese economy

Summing up the features of Japan's economic development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the following conclusions can be drawn in the Japanese economy.

(1) Although Japan long time lagged behind the leading Western countries, its economic development fits into the terms of the ascending wave of the third macrocycle of 1895–1915.

(2) Such dynamics were undoubtedly influenced by imperial modernization, military conjuncture (warfare and militarization of the economy), changes in the transport structure. The country has built railways, locomotives and wagons. In just eight years of the 1980s, the length of steel lines increased tenfold. How Island state Japan developed shipbuilding. She changed priorities in energy carriers (dramatically increased coal and oil production). The state built telegraph lines, developed telephone connection, starting the creation infrastructure.

(3) Changes in the field of production predetermined changes in its organization - corporations were also created in Japan that covered various areas, not limited to the monopolization of any one branch of production or the sale of one product, which was explained by a lack of capital.

(4) However, Japan lagged behind - the diffuse expansion of the automotive, aircraft, electrical engineering on this wave has not yet taken place.

(5) Japan lagged behind Western European countries and the United States: in its national income, the share of industry reached only 40? / At the beginning of the 20th century. about 2/3 of the country's population was employed in agriculture.

8. Japanese super-statism in 1914-1939

The peculiarity of the socio-economic development of Japan, as well as the dissatisfaction of its ruling circles with the far from leading position of the country in the Pacific basin, in the vast region of Southeast Asia, were the main factors that brought the Japanese version of the formation of a system of state regulation of the economy closer to the German and Italian ones. Orientalists believe that this similarity was "more functional than essential ... and manifested itself primarily in the militant radicalism of social groups that relied on force and aggression, on the cult of exclusivity and permissiveness, on war and destruction." One of these social groups were the "young officers", who had an ever-increasing influence on the country's politics in the interwar period. The influence of this group especially increased with the arrival of General G. Tanaka as prime minister in 1927. The subsequent occupation of Manchuria in 1931 finally pushed the country's economy towards militarization.

An important factor in the creation of a superstatized and system of intervention in economic relations in Japan was the dominance in the country's economy. zaibaiu - universal monopolies (conglomerates), closely connected by tribal, family ties with the ruling imperial house and the central administration.

Another distinguishing feature of Japan's economic relations, which brought its system of state regulation closer to a variant of Italian corporatism, was the desire of entrepreneurs to harmonization relations with workers, the conscious cultivation of paternalistic traditions in the country. The symbiosis of these basic, in our opinion, features of the formation of the system of etatism contributed to the rapid development of its economy in the interwar period, based primarily on militarization. The experience of Japan and all the militaristic countries has demonstrated the futility and perniciousness of this variant of building a system of state regulation of economic relations.

9. Economy of Japan at the present stage

To date, Japan, along with the United States and Western Europe makes up the "troika" of the most important economic centers of the world. Japan continues to hold leading positions in a number of key indicators. She is the second shareholder of the IMF after the United States. It accounts for 12% of world industrial production. The country ranks first in the world in the production of machine tools, ships, consumer electronics and electronic components, robots. In terms of production of automobiles, chemical products, as well as in terms of the tonnage of the commercial Morflot, it is in second place, and in terms of steel production and fish catch - in third place, it occupies one of the leading places in world trade and investment.

Japan's GNP is half that of the United States, and GNP per capita in fiscal year 1997 was $32,610, about the same as that of the United States. Of the 500 largest transnational companies, 141 are Japanese. The first three places in the world in terms of product sales are also occupied by Japanese companies.

The achievements of the Japanese economy were largely due to the effective functioning of the "Japanese model of capitalism" over the post-war decades. But over the past two decades, the average annual growth rate of Japan's GNP has declined noticeably and in the 1990s turned out to be much lower than in other developed capitalist countries. The West has already begun to call Japan "the land of the setting sun", and the Japanese are increasingly calling them the "lost decade". One of the main reasons for this situation was that the Japanese government did not take the necessary measures to prevent the economic phenomenon at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. soap bubble”, which was based on the unprecedented high value of securities and real estate, as well as on the huge amounts of bank loans that were issued without real security. The explosion of the "soap bubble" in the early 90s. gave rise to the phenomenon of "bad loans" and brought the loss of assets in 1992-1998. twice its GDP in 1999. But since the role of the Japanese banking system in the world economy is great (the size of Japanese financial institutions is such that the bankruptcy of only one of them can destabilize the entire world financial system), when at the end of 1997 and in 1998 The Japanese economy was hit by a severe financial crisis, the world financial community decided to help Japan overcome it.

However, the depressed state of the Japanese economy did not have a significant impact on the global situation, since this country is relatively closed. The degree of dependence on exports (the ratio of exports to GDP) is relatively low here - 10.2% (Canada - 35.8%, Germany - 25%). The degree of dependence on imports (ratio of imports to GDP) - 7.4% (USA - 11.1%, Canada - 33.6%, England - 22.5%). In the conditions of the beginning of the recession in 1997, the Japanese government adopted a long-term (until 2010) program of economic reforms, which provided for the creation and development of new promising industries and services. These industries included: information technology, biotechnology, aerospace, new energy sources and energy technology, environmental protection, housing renovation, the entire range of social services, leisure and entertainment, urban planning and reconstruction, marketing of goods and cargo transportation, training and retraining of personnel, as well as employment mediation, business support services, services related to the globalization of the economy (in particular, the organization of international fairs and exhibitions), the development of the seas and oceans, etc. The reform program for the development of these promising industries was aimed primarily at limiting the role of the state apparatus in the economy, as well as speeding up research and development, improving financing, and developing the structure of telecommunications.

This testified to the country's desire to forcefully move from a post-industrial to an information economy of the US level. Spending on science in 1996 amounted to 3% of GNP, which was the highest figure among developed countries. There was the introduction of technologies that reduce the cost of the production process, as well as the concentration of activities on advanced high-tech products. To increase the efficiency of production, the process of structural restructuring of companies and the merger of related types of production continued. For the purpose of structural adjustment, import duties were reduced, which stimulated the influx of consumer goods from Asian manufacturers and the transfer of part of material-intensive industries abroad. The Japanese high-tech industry began to actively locate in Asia, the US and Europe.

At the same time, the reform of the tax system continued in order to increase the competitiveness of national producers in industries that contributed to the formation of the information economy. In 2003, tax cuts of 1.2 trillion yen were made to increase corporate investment in research and development and to increase the use of information technology (IT).

A stimulus package was adopted in 2000 for a "self-sufficient economic recovery" "A New Development Policy for Japan's Revival", which involved solving four problems:

(1) IT development. The goal is to create a "Japanese-style IT society" (Japese-s1y1e IT society). This strategy includes the creation of a regional information network of 100,000 personal computers installed in offices local authorities self-government, schools and trade establishments (total 10 thousand sites); conducting a nationwide campaign to promote IT in society, including a program to train 7 million people to use a PC; creation of a full-scale e-government in which administrative procedures should be carried out via the Internet. Since 2002, "Network Meetings of Shareholders" have been introduced, which were held online until voting;

(2) environmental protection;

(3) the aging of the population and the improvement in urban infrastructure in connection with this. The task is to reduce the timeframe for the implementation of the "Golden Plan 21", which set the task of transforming public institutions and railway stations to places that provide mobility for the elderly and disabled, as well as the establishment of basic facilities for the care of the elderly.

The New Policy also included measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by increasing the amount of government-guaranteed loans they could provide. System in operation "safety nets" preferential state guarantees of loans for enterprises whose financial situation is significantly deteriorating due to bankruptcies of commercial partners, banks, cooperatives, as well as as a result of natural Disasters. In all prefectures and a number major cities There are 52 loan guarantee associations that, at the request of SMEs, provide guarantees for obtaining loans from private banks. Under the Small Business Credit Insurance Law, the associations themselves insure up to 80% of the guaranteed amounts at the Japan Small and Medium Enterprise Corporation. The main directions of state policy in relation to SMEs were assistance in strengthening the financial and economic situation, improving the technical level of production and the qualifications of the workforce, facilitating their restructuring and entering foreign markets. The main part of the state financial support for small business is carried out through specialized credit and insurance organizations that have their own budget. Support for small businesses in Japan is universal, but special benefits are provided to those companies that operate in areas that directly affect the welfare of the population and other priority industries. In order to strengthen the financial position of entrepreneurs, the government encourages the association of small and medium-sized enterprises in cooperatives – production, credit, marketing. The creation of cooperatives pursues several goals at once: preventing excessive competition, coordinating the strategy in the purchase of goods from wholesalers, mutual assistance in times of financial difficulties.

Data for 2000 showed that the chosen course proved to be effective in the short term. It is indicative that the overall growth in industrial production in 2000 was achieved through the purposeful development of a number of leading industries. The role of the "locomotive" was performed by industries directly or indirectly related to the industry of informatics and telecommunications. Moreover, the efforts of companies were concentrated on the release of new generation goods and goods with new consumer properties. In 1999–2000 the successful sale of certain types of electronics and automotive products gave impetus to the growth of related industries, such as ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemistry and electrical engineering. PC production in 2000 exceeded the level of 1999 by 25% and amounted to 11.5 million units. Among the leading manufacturers are EnISi, Fujitsu, IBM Japan, Sony and others. Japan remains a recognized leader in the automotive industry. 11 leading Japanese manufacturers have increased the production of cars in their overseas subsidiaries. In 1999, the share of Japanese cars in the European market was 10% of the production volume (1.7 million units), and in the US - 30%.

In a number of sectors of the production of consumer electronics and computer games, conditions were prepared for the release of goods designed for rush demand. So, in March 2000, Sony Computer Entertainment launched a new computer game, Play Station-2, on the market. Only in the first three days of its sales, 720 thousand units were sold, and the volume of orders exceeded 980 thousand units. The sale of game consoles brought Sony up to 40% of the total profit. In the market of cameras, audio and video equipment, digital media (MOE, OUO, etc.) are becoming more widespread. The 19 leading Japanese manufacturers of digital video cameras account for 80% of the total global market for these products.

Japan's modern economy is characterized by diversity managerial approaches: reduction of personnel, liquidation of activities that have lost competitiveness; clearing firms' balance sheets of bad debt; transfer of cash flows to new directions with potential growth; joint research and development for the purpose of accelerated and cost-effective production of new materials and products, mergers and acquisitions with the aim of greater monopolization of the market. Since Japan is practically deprived of its own raw materials and does not cover its food needs through domestic production, foreign economic relations play a significant role. The strategic increase in exports to almost all regions of the world has long provided the financial basis for economic growth. Import for it was a means of obtaining raw materials, energy and food resources, as well as industrial products that meet the demand and parameters of the competitiveness of its own economy.

Japan's main trading partners are the United States, China, Taiwan, South Korea. In the commodity structure export significant changes occurred mainly in the groups of goods related to IT. The largest export items by value: cars, electronics, office equipment (computers, etc.), auto parts, scientific and optical instruments. The high export rating of these products is based on a high share of value added. For example, the export of Japanese cars to the United States in 1991-1998. decreased from 1770 thousand to 1270 thousand units, but the value of this export group did not change. A similar trend was observed in the export of semiconductors. The main articles of Japanese import are finished products (share in imports - 61.2%), mineral fuels - 20.3%, food products - 12.1%, raw materials - 6.5%. Imports of processed products, especially electronics, continue to grow. Most of it is produced at Japanese factories in Asia, Malaysia, China, Singapore, and the Philippines. Understanding the huge growth potential of this group of countries and the opportunities to use it in the future prevented Japanese firms from repatriating capital during the 1997 financial crisis. production capacity abroad, stimulated by lower production costs there, even gave rise to fears about the "emasculation" of Japanese industry itself. In this regard, one of the main tasks of Japanese companies is optimization combination of domestic and foreign production.

It is typical for Japan to maintain a significant positive foreign trade balance for a long time. This is one of the most important sources of constant inflow of foreign exchange earnings into the country.

The modern economic policy of Japan has shown two features. Firstly, its primary task is to facilitate the country's exit from a long recession, and secondly, the means and methods of its implementation are typical for countries that are actually in the post-industrial phase of development.

The prolonged recession in the Japanese economy, characterized by low GDP growth, the presence of a huge amount of “bad debts” in private banks, large public debt, deflation, a decline in industrial production, stagnation in personal consumption and other negative phenomena, prompted the Cabinet of Ministers headed by Dz. Koizumi back in 2001 to develop structural reform program designed to put the economy on the path of sustainable progressive development. The program was published as a report by the Council for Economic and Fiscal Policy entitled "Structural Reforms of the Japanese Economy: Policy Framework for Macroeconomic Management". However, the implementation of structural reforms faced many objective and subjective difficulties and did not produce the desired results. Therefore, in early 2003, the Japanese government presented its new vision of structural reforms called "Basic Policy in the Sphere of Economy, Fiscal Management and Structural Reforms". The program was presented in the form of "Three Declarations" and "Seven Reforms".

As declarations, such goals as revitalizing the economy, providing the population with reliable social guarantees, and improving the fiscal system were proclaimed. Achieving these goals involves the implementation of the following seven reforms: state regulation, financial system, tax, employment and human resources, social guarantee system, central government and local administrations; budgeting process.

One of the main goals of Japan's structural policy at the present stage is increasing competitiveness national industry. In this regard, the government intends to solve the following problems.

(1) Obsolescence of fixed assets due to lack of funding. One of the main reasons for reducing investment in equipment is the availability a large number debts, forcing companies to spend part of their profits on their repayment. Average age of equipment from 1992 to 2002 grew by 2.6 years, reaching 12 years. In order to overcome this trend and to radically change the industry through the introduction of information technologies, as well as increasing the degree of use of fundamentally new technologies, in 2003 the tax system was reformed. The introduction of a special tax rate system to encourage investment in information technology resulted in a 3.3% increase in FY2003 compared to FY2002.

(2) To improve the quality of human resources by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Health, Labor and social security, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Prime Minister's Office launched a special counseling and training program in 2003.

(3) Insufficient capital flow from Japan's traditional manufacturing industries to high-tech industries. This is due to the high degree of investment risk, the difficulties of long-term lending in the light of the nationwide financial crisis. Since 2003, a three-year program has been launched to stimulate investment in equipment associated with advanced information technologies. It involves exemption from taxation of a 10% share of the total investment or (at the discretion of the investor) the use of accelerated depreciation rates. In order to stimulate R&D, tax incentives have been introduced, which provide for a reduction in the taxable base of corporate income to 15% of total R&D costs.

Two methods are used to stimulate cross-industry capital flow: a) the transfer of state orders for high-tech equipment to the private sector, for example, for the latest telecommunications equipment and means of communication under the state plan "Electronic Japan" and b) the implementation by government agencies in conjunction with the corporate sector research work occupying an intermediate position between fundamental and applied research.

(4) Structural shifts of a fundamental nature should also include the entry of the corporate sector into the markets of natural monopolies (energy conservation, gas management, water supply, sewage management) and other areas of activity that are controlled by state or semi-state structures. Since the beginning of 2003, Japanese private companies, based on amendments to the Law on Local Autonomy, have been given the right to enter into agreements with local authorities on the leasing of water supply systems on a tender basis. It is expected that this should reduce the prices for this type of utilities, which have increased by 30% over the past decade.

(5) The government attaches particular importance to the creation, in cooperation with local governments "special zones of deregulation". Their goal is to stimulate latent demand. In 2003, they were allowed to implement the following measures: corporations or non-governmental organizations to run schools; corporations to run hospitals; patients to receive medical services not only in medical institutions, falling under public insurance, but also in institutions not provided with insurance; retailers to sell medicines that do not require prescriptions along with pharmacies; corporations to acquire agricultural property. At the beginning of 2004, 236 "special deregulation zones" had been created in Japan.

The main areas of government activity in 2004 and in the near future were identified as follows:

(1) reduction of state intervention in order to activate the role of the private sector in the country's economy through the transfer of part of the powers from the central government to the regions while reducing subsidies to regional budgets and in parallel transferring certain taxes to their jurisdiction;

(2) reforming the pension system. One of the main goals is that the level of pension benefits should be at least 50% of the average wage;

(3) strengthening measures to protect the environment. Responsibility for the disposal of industrial products is supposed to be transferred from consumers to manufacturers;

(4) reducing bad debts. In 2002, the Financial Services Agency under the Ministry of Finance of Japan developed a “financial revival program”, the main goal of which is to reduce the amount of “bad debts” for the main largest banks in Japan.

Conclusion

Japan is a country whose experience will enable many countries to improve their economic level. Although Japan has a rather meager natural resource potential, at the same time, energy and material-intensive industries are widespread. The solution to this problem for Japan was almost 98% import of raw materials. In order not to spend huge amounts of money on imports, the country specializes in sectors of the economy that are more promising than the mining industry (services, manufacturing, including high technology industries). The export of products of such industries allows not only to maintain a positive balance of foreign trade, but also to receive significant profits. The conclusion from all of the above can be the conclusion that Japan is a country from which experience should be learned in creating a favorable environment in the economic sphere of society.

Bibliography

1.Japan. Statistical reference book of the World. 1999.

2.I.P. Lebedev. Japan: changing the model of economic growth. M., 1990.

3.G.B. Polyak, A.N. Markov. History of the world economy. M., 2007.

4. A.S. Bulatov. World economy. M., 2001

5. Electronic resources: www.japantoday.ru.

There are three stages in the development of the Japanese economy in the postwar period. 1946 - 1951 was a period of recovery. During the war, Japan lost almost 25% of its production assets. The decline in production in 1945 amounted to 63%. Inflation rate in 1945 - 1950 reached 7000%. The government continued to interfere in all areas of the economy. In order to avoid hunger, the country imported food. Japan was forbidden to participate in international trade. Imports were controlled by the government and the high command of the allied forces.

An important role in the restoration of the Japanese economy belonged to state regulation, progressive reforms - land, in the field labor relations liquidation of parent companies. The beginning of state regulation was the freezing of bank deposits, the denomination of the yen, new system fixed prices and the introduction of a new property tax. The Economic Stabilization Committee and the Reconstruction Bank of Japan were established. Using such economic instruments as the rationing of strategic goods, the policy of priority industries, to which 1/2 of the investment resources of commercial banks were forcibly directed, limiting subsidies to the size of state funds, a ban on raising wages above inflationary levels, fixing the yen exchange rate, the government managed to reduce inflation . The normalization of public finances and the restoration of the mechanism of reproduction was facilitated by the line of J. Dodge, who was instructed by US President G. Truman to lead the transformations in Japan. The stabilization policy provided for a single exchange rate (360 yen per dollar), improved organization and management at enterprises, a gradual ban on export and production subsidies, the abolition of price controls, equalizing them with world prices, and the introduction of free market principles. Foreign trade was denationalized. At the same time, external financial transactions were controlled. To regulate cash flows across the border, a foreign exchange budget system was created and a law on foreign investment was adopted.

During 1946 -1950. changed the structure of Japanese shareholding. In the course of "decartelization", the main companies were liquidated and state control over the merger of companies and cartelization was established (the antimonopoly law of 1947). The land reform of the 40s, which led to the industrialization of the countryside, the emergence of new labor legislation, and an increase in living standards, contributed to the growth of industrial production and the development of the domestic market.

The pre-war level of industrial production in Japan was exceeded in 1951. During the first half of the 1950s, the rate of growth slowed down as production capacity reached its possible maximum. The second half of the 50s - 60s became a period of renewal and expansion of production capacities, their modernization. Japan's defining feature during this period was high economic growth.

Structural changes in the economy were primarily in the development of industry. Its main direction was the formation first of the basic branches of heavy industry, then the production of science-intensive products. The share of electric power industry and coal mining decreased in the total production. The heavy industry continued to grow.

The development of radio electronics, instrument and shipbuilding, the production of artificial rubber, resins, fibers, plastics, energy-saving and material-saving equipment has acquired paramount importance. Japan ranked second after the United States in the use of computers, production of cars. The role of nuclear power plants has increased. The pace of development of the textile and food industries slowed down.

The non-manufacturing sector has traditionally occupied an important place in the Japanese economy. After the war, agrarian overpopulation became a favorable factor. The labor force, which industry could not absorb, went into the service sector and trade. It was characterized by many small businesses.

A notable driving force behind Japan's economic development has been the growth of capital investment. In terms of the scale of renewal of production assets, Japan occupied the first place in the world.

The qualitative renewal of the Japanese economy was associated with the development of scientific and technological progress. The R&D deployment process in Japan has its own specifics. Weak own scientific potential was compensated by the introduction of foreign scientific and technical experience.

The cheap labor force of Japanese workers played a significant role in the rapid development of the economy.

The Japanese monopolies strengthened their positions. Financial-industrial groups resumed their activities, and new ones emerged. A feature of the economy was its dual structure - the parallel existence of large, small and medium-sized industries.

Extremely great importance in post-war Japan, the state had a regulatory role in the economic sphere. During the 1950s, three-year, two five-year, six-year plans for the development of the economy were developed. They determined the goals, conditions for development, identified the "bottlenecks" of the economy, taking into account what the state policy was carried out and the state investments were distributed.

Economic activity was carried out on the principles of private initiative through the market mechanism and the price mechanism. The state has become a major producer and consumer of industrial products.

The state carried out credit and financial measures through a Japanese bank and specialized state credit and financial institutions, the state budget.

Implementation of a course towards industrialization, accelerated development of industries that determined technical progress, brought Japan to the second place in the world industry.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Japan ranked second after the United States in world industrial production. The peak of the "Japanese miracle" has passed. Unfavorable market conditions have set in all over the world. In 1973-1974. oil prices quadrupled in world markets. Since the Japanese economy was 3/4 dependent on imported oil, a real panic reigned in the country's economy. In order to get out of the crisis, Japan increased the export of goods. Every year, the Japanese sold up to 2 million cars in the USA. The second path that was supposed to bring Japan out of stagnation was a change in economic strategy or a course towards the comprehensive development of the latest, high-tech industries: the production of computers, robots, fine chemical compounds, machine tools with program control, treatment facilities, communications equipment, nuclear power plants. Japan spent a significant share of GNP on scientific research, reducing spending on the former traditional industries - shipbuilding, metallurgy, and petrochemistry. Thanks to this, having overcome the crisis, it retained the second place among the economically developed countries of the world in the 70-80s. In order to prevent sharp declines in the dynamic development of its economy, the Japanese government approved a plan for state regulation of the national economy.

Modern monetarism

At the stage of the information technology revolution, the industrial countries of the world made a significant leap in their development. At this stage, new views on effective growth are formed and new economic schools emerge. Since the beginning of the 1980s, neoconservatism has dominated the developed capitalist countries, which covers three main areas of the new neoclassicism:

1) monetarism associated with the regulation of the economy through the sphere of monetary circulation. Only a consistent policy of providing the economy with money, according to monetarists, can create economic agents' confidence in the non-inflationary development of the economy and promote uniform investment with minimal risk;

2) supply-side economics, according to which an excessive increase in taxes deprives entrepreneurs of incentives to invest and thus leads to a decline in production and undermining the financial base, and a reduction in tax rates is a sufficient condition to stimulate entrepreneurial activity and initiative;

3) the theory of rational expectations, according to which economic agents in any case do not justify the hopes of power structures, because they take into account the intentions of the authorities in advance and neutralize the government's policy by their measures (increase or decrease in prices). Milton Friedman, a representative of the Chicago school, came out decisively against J. M. Keynes and the Keynesians. In the economic literature, this performance was called the neoclassical (monetarist) counter-revolution (as opposed to the Keynesian revolution). In a broad sense, monetarism is all economic doctrines that give money priority and are associated with the development of monetary policy aimed at regulating the money supply in circulation. It is these concepts that are being implemented today in various forms in the economic policy of the United States and other developed countries. Thus, the "monetarist renaissance" was not an accidental response to the severe inflation of the 1970s, or simply a reaction to the crisis of Keynesianism. The basis of modern monetarist concepts is the quantity theory of money, which arose as early as the 16th century. and according to which the level of commodity prices is the higher, the more money in circulation. Monetarism has significantly expanded the possibilities of neoclassical theory, adding to it empirical research based on economic and statistical models.

The conclusion about the decisive influence of monetary factors on general economic processes was substantiated by M. Friedman and A. Schwartz in the work "The Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960" and formulated as follows:

Changes in the quantity of the money supply are closely related to changes in economic activity, money income, and prices;

The relationship between monetary and economic shifts has been (in certain years) stable;

Monetary changes were often of independent origin rather than reflecting changes in economic activity.

The new monetarist approaches boil down to the following main points:

1) criticism of state intervention in the economy (this is not about the fundamental denial of state intervention, but about the rejection of a specific economic policy, which is based on Keynesian methods of state regulation);

2) a bet on the policy of regulating the money supply as the main tool for managing the economy;

3) the proclamation of private entrepreneurship as the only driving force of economic development;

4) rehabilitation of Say's law, as a result of which the Keynesian concept of demand management should give way to supply-oriented theory.

In the field of practical implementation of monetarist concepts, several elements can be distinguished, namely: the restructuring of the budget mechanism, the rejection of budgetary influence on production, the reduction of budget expenditures, the deregulation of certain areas of the economy, the weakening of the legal regulation of economic activity, the privatization of certain sectors of the economy, the reduction of social infrastructure and social programs.

Supply-side economics studies the impact of fiscal leverage on entrepreneurial activity and business performance. The main provisions of the concept of supply-side economics:

Orientation of the economy towards production and supply;

Reducing the taxation of producers in order to free up part of the profits for investment;

Reducing Taxation individuals to stimulate savings of the population;

Privatization;

Reducing government spending in the social sphere;

Regulation of the money supply;

State intervention in the economy.

The level of production, according to neoclassical theory, depends on the supply of labor and capital.

The supply of labor is determined by the choice of individuals between work and leisure. It is known that the growth of taxes on wages means its actual reduction and leads to a reduction in the supply of labor. The system of state social benefits, in particular for unemployment, also reduces the attractiveness of work, reducing the number of people who want to work. Therefore, a reduction in the marginal taxation of labor income contributes to the expansion of the supply of labor force already employed and stimulates the attraction of additional workers for whom the marginal utility of the wages received will exceed the marginal utility of leisure. Thus, the growth of labor resources will ensure the further process of capital accumulation, and as a result, an increase in the rate of accumulation and acceleration of economic growth in the economy as a whole.

The supply of capital (volume of investment), according to neoclassical ideas, is a function of savings, the decision on which depends on the individual's choice between consumption today or in the future. Such incentive measures of economic policy as the reduction of taxes on corporate profits and the introduction of tax and depreciation incentives for them can stimulate the decision to save. At the same time, two ways to accelerate the investment process are clearly defined:

1) the formation of additional sources of internal resources of accumulation for the increase in depreciation;

2) attracting external investment resources by increasing the market value of corporate assets - an increase in the level of dividends paid and the attractiveness of corporate securities.

One variant of the new neoclassic is rational expectations theory, which completely ignored government intervention. American economists R. Lucas, T. Sargent, N. Wallace argue that an economic individual not only passively adapts to previous experience, but also actively uses a large amount of current information to accurately predict economic development trends. Any attempts to influence the process of reproduction through a systematic state macroeconomic policy are assessed by the ideologues of rational expectations as fruitless not only in the long term, but also in the short term. The main focus is on the revival of faith in the possibility of rational behavior of economic agents in conditions where the state plays the role of only a source of information.

This theory primarily studies inflation expectations and therefore relies to some extent on the theory of adaptive expectations, according to which expectations of future inflation are formed on the basis of previous and current inflation levels and are relatively constant. However, rational expectations theory has essential difference: individuals acting rationally not only analyze "yesterday" and "today", but can also anticipate and "predict" tomorrow "using all available information.

The theory of rational expectations is well argued in theoretical terms and supported by a serious mathematical base, but has not received practical value.

Thus, the economic theories that developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries dealt with the problems of market environment uncertainty, expectations, and incomplete information. Their goal is to create adequate and effective methods of state regulation.

neoconservatism

The neoconservative approach to the restructuring of economic regulation assumes that competition, the market, together with private monopoly elements of planning, are becoming a priority, and direct state intervention in the process of production, distribution and redistribution should be reduced. However, it substantiates the need to strengthen the role of the state in providing strategic prerequisites for the development and increasing the country's competitiveness, which is especially important in the dynamic conditions of the scientific and technological revolution.

Economic crises 1975 and 1980 gave rise to political and ideological crises. As a result, neo-conservatism (NC) came to the fore in Western countries. Margaret Thatcher came to power in the UK, and Ronald Reagan came to power in the US. NK reigned from the second half of the 70s to the beginning of the 90s, i.e. almost 20 years. With the advent of Bill Clinton, perestroika began in the United States.

NK - literally means the preservation of old values ​​at a new stage. NK in a broad sense is a worldview as a whole, a general ideology. Let's single out the most important values ​​of NC.

The first value of NC is orientation towards a monogamous family. The fact is that in the 1960s a sexual revolution took place in the West. Western sociologists have counted several dozen forms of marriage. The reason for this, they considered the sexual revolution, which destroys Western traditional values. The second value of NC is the orientation towards church ideology, faith in God. In the 1960s there was a trend of indifference to religion. Today, religiosity in the West is held in high esteem. Even in the army, the church now plays an important role. The third value of NC is the enhanced upbringing of youth on patriotic principles. Finally, the fourth value of NK is the emphasis on rights and freedoms, fostering the spirit of enterprise, relying on one's own strength, and not on the state.

We are primarily interested in NDT in the economic field. It is characterized by the following values: firstly, it is an emphasis on private property and market competition, on one's own enterprise. Neoconservatives explain the crises of 1975 and 1980 excessive regulation of the economy. This has found its expression in very high taxes in order to implement social programs. The highest tax rates were in Sweden - up to 75%, in the USA - 55%, in England - 35% (for the largest share of income). According to the NK ideologues, such high tax rates completely nullify the incentives to do business. As a result, the shadow economy is growing, and the state provokes the growth of mafia structures.

Secondly, according to the NK ideologues, the state conducts very wide social programs. These programs breed social dependency. In the opinion of the neoconservatives, under John F. Kenedy in the 1960s, an atmosphere of dampening was created, which also leads to a drop in the prestige of the economy.

To get out of this situation, the neoconservatives proposed, firstly, to privatize the public sector of the economy (the British Conservative government under the leadership of M. Thatcher took this path) and, secondly, to reduce the share of the gross national product, which is redistributed through the state budget. They cited the following statistics: in the 70s, 30% of the GDP was redistributed through the state budget, and in the 80s - 36%. In fact, the specific recommendations of the Tax Code boiled down to reducing taxes and social spending. In short, it is necessary to reduce the overall level of regulation of the economy and revive the slogan of free enterprise. This is the essence of NDT in the economic field.

In the early 60s - mid 70s began new stage scientific and technological revolution (NTR) - a revolution in technology or a technological revolution, which resulted in computerization, robotization and miniaturization of production. Western economists have found the limit of controllability of highly complex industries and economic systems. The economic systems of the 1950s and 1960s were characterized by a few large enterprises that outperformed small businesses in every way. But the results of the technological revolution (computerization, etc.) turned out to be applicable to small enterprises, which became more efficient than large, slow-moving industries. As a result, small businesses began to win in the 1970s. In the current situation, it has become difficult to manage the economy from a single economic center. Today, the multi-million product range is very flexible. After 2-3 years, it is updated by half. It is time to objectively shift the focus from centralization to autonomy.

Let's name the second rational moment, which was caught by the neoconservatives. They proceeded from the understanding that human labor is not an easy task. It cannot be the first need of life. Man does not have the need to work. Therefore, according to the NC, the economic system should always be sufficiently rigid.

There are, however, negative moments in NK in the economic field. First moment. If P. Samuelson put a mixed economy (neoclassical synthesis) in the foreground, then the NK made a roll exclusively on private property. They proposed to privatize railways, urban transport, build private prisons, and so on. Second moment. NCs raised the question that all the unemployed are voluntary unemployed (the idea was borrowed from L. Walras). J. M. Keynes, on the other hand, believed that unemployment was basically a forced phenomenon. The third point is the attitude towards social spending. The NCs raised the issue that social spending is corrupting the entire economic system. But human society is objectively inherent in the system of social guarantees, especially for pensioners, disabled people and children of poor parents. By the way, during the reign of NK, not a single Western country social spending has not declined.

Questions for self-control

1. The main centers of economic rivalry.

2. The main characteristics of the scientific and information revolution.

3. Modern trends in the development of economic thought.

4. Strategies for the development of new industrial countries.