Japan and the Asian Economies: A “Miracle” in Transition

Takatoshi Ito

TI

Takatoshi Ito

Discussants: David E. Weinstein

DEW

David E. Weinstein

ONE EAST ASIAN country after another has taken off from a stagnant state to achieve an annual economic growth rate of 10 percent or more. The fact that such high economic growth rates are being sustained, along with observation based on growth convergence regressions that prior economic and social conditions do not seem to have warranted such rapid growth, has led many to call the East Asian growth a miracle.