Episode 604 – The Bureaucrats, Part 3

For a long time, the bureaucracy–in all its elitist, meritocratic glory–has taken a great deal of the credit for Japan’s postwar economic miracle. But how much of that credit does it actually deserve? Plus, some ruminations on the post-1990s fate of the bureaucracy and its general history.

Sources

Koh, B.C. Japan’s Administrative Elite.

Johnson, Chalmers. MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975

Johnson, Chalmers. Japan: Who Governs? The Rise of the Developmental State

Henderson, David R. Japan and the Myth of MITIFrom Econolib.org

Images

The old MITI headquarters building is a rather unassuming structure that belies its importance (its location, only a block from the imperial palace, perhaps says more). After 2001, it became the headquarters of the Ministry of the Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI).