Jeffrey Hays

• In 1950, the per capita income of Japan was equal to that of Ethiopia and Somalia and 40 percent less than India.
• The Korean War period was a boon for the Japanese economy. American ships were serviced in Japanese ports, machines were repaired, support facilities were established. Those who made a lot of money were fairly good at letting their wealth trickle down so that it improved the lives of ordinary Japanese not just the elite.
• The Japanese went through a stage similar to the one that China is going through now in terms of copying and piracy. In the early stages of their development Japanese companies copied many American and European products. These companies and the Japanese government became more concerned with intellectual property concerns when Japanese companies needed laws to protect their patents and copyrights.
• Through the 1960s, Japan had a growth rate of 11 percent (compared to 4.6 percent in West Germany and 4.3 percent in the United States and comparable to the growth rates China has achieved in the 1990s and 2000s).
• Japan's economic ascension had three distinct stages. The first stage was guided by the "priority production system" of the 1950s that stressed increasing coal and steel output and developing heavy industries like shipbuilding and timber making. In the second stage in the 1960s and 70s Japan focused on producing consumer products and automobiles for export markets. The third stage was the development of knowledge-based products like computers and electronics.