Labor Relations and Industrial Adjustment in Japan and the United States: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

There is a specter haunting America-the specter of industrial decline. Among the most controversial of the proposed responses to this problem is the development and implementation of a national industrial policy. Unfortunately, the current industrial policy debate is misdirected. Frequently, for example, discussion focuses on the need for a national industrial policy to counteract an imagined conspiracy of Japanese competition. The decline of American industrial fortunes, however, is internally generated-a direct result of the misguided and shortsighted policies of politicians and corporate executives.