The gap between politics and economics

Abstract

Postwar Japanese society has come to be known internationally for its high-speed economic growth that began in the late 1950s and continued to the 1970s and, after the lull caused by the oil shocks of the 1970s, into the 1980s. The end of the Cold War brought about a change as Japan’s bubble economy burst, causing what Japanese call the “lost decade.” The central government has played an important role in this economic development that left Japan with one of the top economies globally. One important example was that set by the Ikeda Hayato administration, which set as a goal the doubling of the average Japanese annual income. In this way, throughout the immediate postwar decades the government has played an important role in orchestrating economic growth. Since the end of the Cold War, however, the changing relationship between politics and big business has presented problems that have left administrations groping for solutions to the country’s stagnant economy.