Circles of Compensation

Kent E. Calder is Director of the Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at SAIS/Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. He previously served as Special Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to Japan and as Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and he has taught at Princeton, Harvard, and Seoul National Universities.

"Circles of Compensation is a beautifully written breakthrough analysis of how to think about one of the world's most important nations. Its conclusions have powerful implications for anyone interested in global economics and politics. Simply too important to pass up."—Jeffrey Garten, Yale University "Kent Calder's Crisis and Compensation is one of the classic works on Japanese politics—and with Circles of Compensation, he's written another seminal book on Japanese political economy. In reading this new book, one learns everything one needs to know about Japan's economic problems. An absolute tour de force."—Margarita Estévez-Abe, Syracuse University "Calder is a scholar and intellectual leader with practical and policy experience. His work is leaving a mark on U.S.–Japan relations."—John V. Roos, Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan "[T]he author develops the first new paradigm for Japan's fluctuating growth patterns and its prospects for recovery. The reading is essential to students and scholars of Japanese political economy, civil society, and East Asian studies in general."—X. Li, Choice

• Introduction: Confronting the Paradox1. Paradox and Japanese Public Policy2. The Circles-of-Compensation Concept3. The Political Economy of Connectedness4. Finance5. Land and Housing6. Food Supply7. Energy8. Transportation9. Communications10. Japan's Domestic Circles and the Broader World11. Models for the FutureConclusion: Unraveling the Paradox