JAPAN Asia's Economic Superpower Faces Uncertain Future - Gene H Hogberg - March 1983

Gene H Hogberg

Will the dynamo of Asia be content to remain only an economic giant? What can we expect from its new prime minister? Can militarily vulnerable Japan continue to rely for its defense upon the United States? These are vital questions as Japan moves into the mid 1980s. The economic picture throughout Asia, comparatively speaking, is still extremely "bullish." The worldwide economic recession- grim in many countries of the West-has only slowed economic growth in the Far East by a pace or two. During the 1970s Japan- the economic "locomotive" of noncommunist Asia-posted a yearly growth rate of about 6 percent. During the current world downturn, the growth rate has been pared back to a still highly respectable 4 percent. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library