"HEAD TO HEAD" (LESTER THUROW).   Term Paper ID:20651 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Critical review of work on changing world order & economic showdown among U.S., Germany & Japan.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Critical review of work on changing world order & economic showdown among U.S., Germany & Japan. Paper Introduction: Lester Thurow in his book Head to Head contributes to the many recent analyses of the international economic scene and especially of the competitiveness--or lack of competitiveness--seen in American industry when matched especially against Japan and West Germany (now simply Germany, though the capabilities of the reunited Germany have not yet been fully tested). Japan in particular has been held up by many as a country more efficient and more productive than the United States, and the image has been created of a major trade war between the U.S., Japan, and the emerging European Community. Thurow examines this "war" beginning with the idea that the U.S. is at a disadvantage and has to work to catch up to Japan and Germany in particular. Thurow does not take a pessimistic view of American chances, however, and feels that America can make the adjustments Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. In 1992 there was one military superpower, the United States, standing alone, and three economic superpowers, the United States, Japan, and Europe, centered on Germany, jousting for economic supremacy (14).Thurow sees the international political system and the internationaleconomic system as intertwined in a complex fashion, each responding tochanges within individual countries and in large regions. Governments pushed actively to insure that the economic combustion did indeed take place (38). He sees thefuture as being marked by economic warfare rather than military warfare,though he also states that the military analogy is fundamentally wrong: The economic game that will be played in the twenty-first century will have cooperative as well as competitive elements. Thurow examines the challenge posed by Japan in more depth. The success of Japan has been cited by many and has also engendered agood deal of Japan-bashing among those who feel the Japanese take an unfaireconomic advantage, yet few would dispute the impressive gains Japan hasmade over the past forty-five years. He findsthat the Japanese system is actually inefficient but that it still beststhe American in industry after industry. Of course, there is nothing specificallypreventing some other region from altering the way it produces anddistributes goods so that it, too, can become a viable economic entity thatchallenges the three major economic regions operating today, but such ashift is unforeseen at this time. Alongwith this change has come the return of much of Eastern Europe to thecapitalist system. The title of the book--Head to Head--evokes theimage of a direct confrontation, the "economic battle" noted in thesubtitle: "The Coming Economic Battle Among Japan, Europe, and America."Thurow's analysis is especially important given the recessionary economythe U.S. With these changes in the world political situation hascome a change in the economic system, and one of the major changes seen asvital by Thurow is the integration of the European market. He wants to understand why thishappens, whether it is because the Japanese are extraordinary in some wayor whether there is some other reason that could be turned to an Americanadvantage if adopted or countered. may be able to gain control of the process of change inthe future in order to improve its economic showing with reference to Japanand Europe in particular. One of the differences Thurow sees among the three major economicentities he discusses is the degree to which they see government as havinga role in economic growth, an argument that is much heard in the U.S. . Wemay not be able to predict what the changes will be, but we can certainlystate that there will be changes, including changes we cannot imagine atthe present time. He tries to showin this book how these forces have brought about the changes noted aboveand how the U.S. The Industrial Revolution began in GreatBritain and left that country in a leadership position. The next economic change couldcome as suddenly and as unexpectedly, and Thurow is indicating here that weneed to deal with the world as it is now while being ready for the changethat is certain to come. An important part of Thurow's book considers the role of the UnitedStates in the next century and how the economic structure is likely tochange. The U.S. Just as the changed political situation has had an effect on theinternational economy, so does Thurow cite certain changes he sees comingin the future as likely to affect the international economic picture, suchas population growth in certain parts of the world, demographic changes,international groups dedicated to monitoring the economic situation andcontrolling it, and so on. Thurow's book expands on this idea first by examining the changedpolitical conditions in the world with the breakup of the Soviet Union andthe removal of the imminent Communist threat that it represented. The Japanesehave a system that is centrally controlled and directed, while the Americansystem emphasizes the idea of the entrepreneur and of individual action andachievement, with no government control beyond regulation for fairness anda level playing field. Thurow examines this "war" beginning with the ideathat the U.S. Japan began from a position farbehind the West, with her infrastructure devastated, and since has achieveda position of economic preeminence, challenging the United States and otherindustrialized nations for world leadership in innovation and industrialproduction, especially in high-tech industries of great import on theinternational scene today and into the future. Thurow sees the matter as more complex whenhe writes: In 1945 there were two military superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. . Thurow does not take a pessimistic view of Americanchances, however, and feels that America can make the adjustments necessaryto become the leader. . has simply lost its economic lead, though itretains its political and military leadership role and has even had thatenhanced with the collapse of Communism. Thurow sees historical processes at work in Japanand Europe as well: "These different conceptions of capitalism flow fromvery different histories" (37). . and one economic superpower, the United States, that stood alone. corporate culture as one in which only one will emerge triumphantand where the other will be forced to adopt the victor's system. Germany, on theother hand, had to work harder to catch up to Great Britain: In both Germany and Japan economic strategies were important elements in military strategies for remaining politically independent. has recentlystarted giving Japan greater attention in order to discern the managementstyles used in Japan and to emulate them to the greatest degree possible,and because of the increase in Japanese investment in the U.S., with theopening of a certain number of Japanese manufacturing companies in theU.S., primarily to produce Japanese cars. has been facing, the arguments over whether NAFTA (the NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement) would benefit or hurt the American economy,and the implementation of the Clinton economic plan over the next severalyears. Work CitedThurow, Lester. The Japanese industrial expansionsince World War II has been considerable. Similarly, the entire scenario set forth by Thurow could changetomorrow with some major political or economic shift on the world scene.Thurow may not be correct in specific predictions, but he is correct inshowing the way different elements combine to alter the economic system ofthe world and to redirect the energies of every nation into new areas. He sees a role reversal in the first half of the next century.For the last fifty years, America has been the instigator while Japan andEurope have been the reactors, but for the next fifty years he sees thematter as reversed. He finds a number of interlockingprocesses and practices that seem to make the Japanese system producebetter in the long run, and it seems as well that taking the long viewrather than the short view has served the Japanese system especially well.Ultimately, Thurow also sees the clash between Japanese corporate cultureand U.S. is at a disadvantage and has to work to catch up to Japan andGermany in particular. Japan in particular has been held up by many as a country moreefficient and more productive than the United States, and the image hasbeen created of a major trade war between the U.S., Japan, and the emergingEuropean Community. andthat is also seen as one reason why Japan is considered an unfair tradingpartner by many, since the government works to keep out non-domesticcompetition. The breakup of the Soviet Union is one such event in ourlifetime, something many had predicted but none in the abrupt, complete,and spontaneous way in which it did occur. He also sees the need for U.S.companies to change and to adopt certain concepts which have served Japanand Germany well, notably long-range strategic planning and flexibility. Lester Thurow in his book Head to Head contributes to the many recentanalyses of the international economic scene and especially of thecompetitiveness--or lack of competitiveness--seen in American industry whenmatched especially against Japan and West Germany (now simply Germany,though the capabilities of the reunited Germany have not yet been fullytested). The world's common environment will require global cooperation if it is to be livable for anyone (31). Most analysts approach the Japanese economic system apparently withthe idea that the Japanese system has to be superior given the resultsachieved and the way Japan leads the United States, often portraying thematter as simply one highly efficient country compared with a country thathas lost its competitive edge. Thurow himself shows that the last fifty years and the next fiftyyears will be very different in terms of economic and power relations, anduntil now it would not have been possible to foresee this with anycertainty. There are dangers in making predictions too farahead. It is aculture based on individualism and self-achievement and so has resistedgovernment interference and control to a much greater degree. New York: Time Warner, 1993.----------------------- 6 By contrast, the American business experience has been inkeeping with the development of American culture and history. The U.S. Head to Head. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.