Sociology Essay, Research Paper

The five countries examined are Japan Taiwan Korea Singapore Through his study the author demonstrates that there was no miracle They applied specific strategies that were adapted to their local Some of these strategies worked some didntThe author says that by examining these nations one may be able The book is divided into three partsPlaces the author tells where these countries started fromThe people of these countries had different outlooks on the world thus different behavioral tendenciesPart I is divided into five chapters each examining a countriesWoronoff begins Chapter 1 Japans Two Miracles by discussing Japans In 1853 when Commodore Perry opened Japans ports to foreigners It was not very evolved nor very modernAgriculture was good but not enough for the growing populationJapan wanted to learn from the WestJapan sent many students to Europe and the United StatesThese zaibatsu dominated industry and commerceThey manipulated politics to suit their own needsJapan soon began concentrating own building a War MachineJapanese War the country went into a recessionBut after the First World War Imperial Japan began growing up The war left Japan resouceless and heavily overpopulatedThe victorious Allies gave or rather imposed democratization The United States provided much financial supportJapans economy then began growing very fastThe Japanese protected themselves by implementing quotas and Companies such as Sony Honda and YKK improved production methodsBusinessmen and bureaucrats worked togetherKeiretsu was a sort of lateral conglomeration of banks and companies The author concluded that the 1980s Japans economy had surpassed those of France and Britain and rivaled the United States economyThe Japanese could now purchase many luxury consumer goods but Their obsession with production as their prewar obsession with Lack of urban planning has led to urban congestion with subsufficient Their economic success came at the cost of living conditions The author begins Chapter 2 Taiwan Industrial Island with a brief Taiwan the island of Formosa was once a Dutch trading centerThen it became a part of the Chinese province of Fukien in 1683With this Chinese began immigratingThe Japanese realized the agricultural potential of the islandThey built roads railways and harborsAfter the Second World War the islands economy which had been based on exporting food and raw material to Japan was now greatly In 1949 when the Kumintang moved to the island so came over one million refugees fleeing from the communist mainlandThe first priority of the new Republic of China was its militaryin 1953 in the form of the Mutual Security TreatyTaiwan attempted many things to help its economyThese implementations made matters worseThe Nineteen Point Program of Economic and Financial Reform enabled local businessmen to act more efficiently and purposelyDespite many factors against it the Republic of China has been able to steadily grow economically and is likely to continue Made Miracle the author explores the history of KoreaKorea has long had a history of Chinese dominationBut as China became more an more under western spheres of influence Korea began to be dominated by Russia and JapanJapan used Korea as mercantilist colonyJapan did build roads and develop the economyAfter the war Korea was left in bad shapeThe zone formed two separate nationsNorth Korea had all of the industry and the South had all of came the aid of the South driving the communists back northThe United States provided financial assistance for reconstruction He wanted the country to emphasize economic growthUnder his influence the government played the major role iOften directing in which sectors the economy would growUnder Parks leadership the economy grew rapidly yet he overstayed his welcome and was assassinated in 1979Koreas economy continued to grow throughout the 1980sChapter 4 Singapore Capitalist Haven tells of SingaporeIn 1819 the British set up a little trading port on the island It was a sparsely inhabited island with no visible wealthThe port attracted traders almost immediately because the British ran it as a free port which welcomed all shipsIn the 1860s after the opening of the Suez canal is when the It became a frequented coaling stationThese goods were broken down to smaller lots for redistribution By the twentieth century it was a bustling commercial centerAfter the War Singapore had lost it trade linksIt tried to form a federation with Malaysia but it fell apart In 1965 Singapore started all over againThere was a large population no agriculture and little natural It provided incentive for companies to come inBanking is one of the industries that bloomedSingapore became the Asian SwitzerlandSingapore steady economic growth helped its citizens whose per capita GDP had become the second highest in Asia by 1982Chapter 5 Hong Kong Capital Paradise tells of the history of Hong became a crown possession in 1841It was a small piece of territory with no intrinsic worthThe British established a free port thereIt became integrated into the Japanese empire for a short time Hong Kong rulers followed a strict policy of nonThere has been steady growth in exporting as well as low unemploymentThe standard of living has all around improvedIn Part II Polices of his book Woronoff tells of how these countries did not possess some sort of natural endowment that led to their It was their policies and how these policies were carried out Each country had different policies geared toward their local These policies varied from much government involvement to the opposite scenario of complete laissezChapters 6 7 and 8 discuss the way that economic growth were The author goes further to explore the different way of which Korea where the government not only encouraged the economy towards certain sectors at times it deliberately directed the direction Japan and Taiwan were the government and business often worked The other extreme were Singapore with its very liberal policies and Hong Kong the epitome of laissezThe industries that developed were different depending on the Some nations built up specific industries in order to avoid foreign Chapters 9 and 10 examine the importing and exporting strategies Exporting has been especially successful for these nations for One reason for their success they have consistently working at competitiveness improving their productsSecond the world economy has been growingThirdly these countries have been trading more amongst themselvesThen the author discusses the Asian use of import substitutionIn Chapters 11 and 12 the author tells of how the Five used technology These countries successfully adopted western technology and production They then went on to devise strategies of their ownThe author further notes how many under developed countries had more resources but were unsuccessful at adopting these strategiesThe failure of many others is what makes the success of the Five In Part III Prospects the authors tells of the economic conditions throughout the world since the Second World WarHe discusses the worldwide growth in the first two decades after Then the oil crisis and recession of the 1970s slowed down all but a few economies the Five were among those which continued In chapters 13 and 14 the author introduces the problems of the He say that getting a strong economy is one thing but keeping In the coming years will the Five work together as allies or will they become rivals for competing marketsChapter 15 tells of influence the Five are having not only their They are becoming models for other Asian countriesChapter 16 East Confronts West discusses the effects the growth of these nation has had on the Europe and the United StatesThe West has felt the effects of these nations greatlyThe West once had unchallenged access to the Asian market for sales as well as the allocation of raw materialThe Five is bringing new competitionIn the future a Pacific Economic Community may present many challenges Keeping the Miracles Alive the author restates the main points Lesson 1 is there is no magic formula for successLesson 2 is no matter how good a policy is one must remain flexible Lesson 4 is pragmatism takes many forms or if it does not work Lesson 5 is one must learn from othersFinally lesson 6 is deeds not words lead to successJon Woronoff in his book Asias Miracle Economies provides a look at the successful growth of the economies of Japan Singapore He shows how these did not perform miraclesThey each had different political situations as well as different These nations followed specific policies that fit there positionThey manage to learn from their mistakes and succeed