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Economy of japan since world war 2
Economy of japan since world war 2
Economy of japan since world war 2
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The Road to Japanese Automobile Manufacturing Dominance
Japan was devastated at the end of World War Two. Although the automobile industry wasn’t as heavily hit as some of the other industries, there were some severely hindering effects on production. Steel and other materials were difficult to obtain causing production to drop 50% by the end of the war (Chao, 1997). Now they are the leading automobile manufacturers in the world. Japan is the epitome of car manufacturers.
Japan had a big ditch to dig themselves out of. First of all to enter into any kind of production they had to get permission from the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers of G.H.Q. This entity regulated trade of the Japanese until 1955.
They allowed for as many as thirty manufacturers to enter the production of trucks in 1945, and in 1947 as the ambitions of the industry increased they allowed manufacture of small passenger cars (although limited to only 300 cars per year). With such small potential for production there was mass unemployment and the manufacturers had to take on the repair of their own damaged vehicles.
Consequently, in 1949 with the tight government finance and banking policies adopted (to suppress inflation) Japan was hit with a massive recession. It was a real blow to the automobile industry; manufacturers had to cut wages and layoff workers. From 1949 to 1950 employment in the automobile industry was slashed by 23% (6,200 people). The labor unions confronted the management of the car makers, and all the manufacturers were hit with the longest strikes in Japanese history.
Japan struggled through the early 1950’s, and in 1955 the “Post-War Era” officially ended. With the G.H.Q. out of the picture the Ministry of Transportation announced the People’s Car Plan, which gave Japanese auto manufacturers an excellent opportunity to develop new original cars of their own. The plan was eventually be scrapped because the manufacturers thought that proposal’s requirements would be “impossible to manufacture with the performance and sales price requested” (Shimokawa, 1994). The People’s Car Plan did influence competition to market new products and it gave primarily three-wheeled vehicle makers a way to enter the four-wheel market. Suzuki, Fuji (Subaru), Mitsubishi, and Toyo Kogyo (Mazda) all entered small cars into the market almost immediately.
Moreover, the first two small cars that really made a name for themselves were the Toyota Corona and the Nissan Bluebird. Of course 90% of these cars were used for business (Rinehart, 1997).
The United States recession (which lead to a world recession), began in 1997 and significantly impacted the United States automobile industry during the recession period. The United States automobile industry is still reeling from the effects of the recession throughout the period of economic recovery that continues today. According to Chu and Su, “In this credit-driven recession, one of the hardest hit sectors was the automotive industry, along with the housing and financial markets. Chrysler and General Motors were pushed into bankruptcy; and 276,000 jobs in the automobile and parts industry were destroyed, a whopping 36 percent of the total employment in the sector”.
Personality predispositions can determine levels of extraversion, which determine the levels to which one seeks social support, thus determining positive affect. Similarly, personality predispositions can determine levels of neuroticism that may influence one’s style of coping in the face of both positive and negative external factors which can determine negative affect (Diener, 1996). Happiness, a core aspect of positive subjective wellbeing, involves maintaining a superior level of positive affect in comparison to negative effect, based on specific positive or negative emotions linked to the recent experiences in one’s life (Emmons & Diener, 1985). Positive emotions such as joy and pride must trump negative emotions such as frustration and sadness in the recent past or present in order for an individual to feel happy. Life satisfaction builds on this and is a cognitive valuation of the quality of an individual’s experiences as a sum throughout their entire life (Emmons & Diener, 1985). Individual personality traits have been found to influence the different patterns and levels of life satisfaction, positive and negative affects and simply general, overall happiness (McCrae, 1983).
During the Great Depression, every work place was hit hard and many were out of work. The demand for vehicles declined, and the automotive industry took a hit. Once the Second World War began, the automotive industry was given a push in the right direction, and their vehicle production flourished...
After the steam engine was created in the early 17th century, many people and companies tried to take that same technology and apply it to automobiles. Nobody was successful until a British inventor by the name of Richard Trevithick created a multi passenger automobile that ran on a power source that was driven by a steam-propelled piston at high pressure (Bellis). Up until the mid 1900’s cars were only produced by specifically skilled blacksmiths, and were very expensive. There were only about 4,000 cars produced from the 1890’s to mid 1900’s (Bellis).
In the United States, modern car manufacturing has been historically dominated by the American companies including Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group LLC, and General Motors Co. These three companies, known as the Detroit Three, controlled 95% of the market in the 1950’s and the dominance continued until the beginning of the 21st century. In the 1980’s Japanese auto manufacturers entered the United States, a decade later the Germans, and finally in 2000’s the Koreans. By the end of 2009, the Detroit Three only accounted for 45% of the total U.S. auto market. Another factor that had influence on this was constant fluctuations in gasoline prices and price sensitive consumers. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, gas prices hit record high averaging $3.07 per gallon in May 2007 and kept climbing up to $4.08 in July 2008. As gas prices kept increasing, consumer buying trends have been changing. In 2006 sales for SUVs, pickup trucks, and vans dropped 16%, while the market for compact cars rose by 3%. Unfortunately, the Detroit Three were not prepared for this since their...
Happiness is a feeling adults experience when they receive a gift, win something, and various other reasons, but does money buy this happiness everyone experiences? Don Peck and Ross Douthat claim money does buy happiness, but only to a point in their article which originally appeared in the Atlantic Monthly (252). Throughout their article, reasons on why money can sometimes buy happiness are explained. While some of the reasons given are effective, not all are satisfying answers for adults working diligently to make a living. Money is a part of everyone’s life, yet it is not always the cause of happiness.
Starting in the late 1700’s, European engineers began messing with motor powered vehicles. By the mid 1800’s, steam, combustion, and electrical motors had all been attempted. By the 1900’s it wasn’t very clear on which type of engine would really power the automobile. At that time, electric cars were the most popular but there were no batteries at that time that would allow a car to move very fast or a long distance. Commercial production in the United States began at the beginning of the 1900’s. In the early 1900’s, the United States had about two thousand firms producing one or more cars.
As demand for automobiles grew to unexpected heights in the 1920s, General Motors set the pace of production, design, and marketing innovation for others to follow. During their success in the 20’s GM added overseas operations, “ including
In Michael R. Hagerty’s and Ruut Veenhoven’s article “Wealth and Happiness Revisited – Growing National Income Does Go with Greater Happiness” they talk about the effect wealth has on your emotions...
Since the development of the steam engine people had been interested in creating self-powered vehicles, this manifested during the industrial revolution as the train. However, as time went on people became interested in creating a vehicle that wasn’t confined to tracks. The earliest attempts were moderately successful but served little practical purpose. Automobiles first began to truly spread with the invention of the electric motor which created cheaper, more powerful, and safer automobiles. Still the automobile still had numerous problems and were mainly in the hands of the rich. It was the development of the internal combustion engine and the assembly line that was truly able to create a practical vehicle that could be used by all and propelled the automobile into the heart of American culture and made it one of the most significant inventions of the post-industrial revolution era, resulting in a complete revolution of society.
In the introduction of the book Monsters we learn that the etymology of the word monster means warning. (Blake and Cooper 3). As a society, we need to heed the warnings that we see manifested in our young people today. Television and movies are moving towards this somewhat, but the pendulum seems to swing from one extreme to the other. We need to build a healthy self-image in our world that says we are valuable. One that says we are worthy to exist and to be loved. A self image that says we are beautiful just the way we
Ford’s production plants rely on very high-tech computers and automated assembly. It takes a significant financial investment and time to reconfigure a production plant after a vehicle model is setup for assembly. Ford has made this mistake in the past and surprisingly hasn’t learned the valuable lesson as evidence from the hybrid revolution their missing out on today. Between 1927 and 1928, Ford set in motion their “1928 Plan” of establishing worldwide operations. Unfortunately, the strategic plan didn’t account for economic factors in Europe driving the demand for smaller vehicles. Henry Ford established plants in Europe for the larger North American model A. Their market share in 1929 was 5.7% in England and 7.2% in France (Dassbach, 1988). Economic changes can wreak havoc on a corporation’s bottom line and profitability as well as their brand.
What is a monster? A monster is almost always defined different to a significant person. The most common definition of a monster is something that is a large frightening, ugly imaginary creature. But again that all depends on the person because we all are scared of something. It does not have to be big or ugly to scare someone. Monsters can be also very exciting to others who enjoy the thrill of them. Especially in horror films which has a very popular demographic of kids who watch them. But, my identified problem with it is the fact that some kids actually think they are real in horror films and in legends. Horror films can be one of the leading cause of people believing that these monsters are actually real.
Starting in the 1920’s America began its shift towards a consumer culture as the economic growth of the nation began to depend more on the proliferation of consumer goods than of capital goods. Even at the outset of this trend, the automobile held a significant place in the new consumer economy. The automobile, which was once thought of as a rare luxury, was being sold by the millions. Assembly lines were becoming more efficient, thus allowing cars to be made more cheaply allowing the price of automobiles to drop. The growth of the automobile helped stimulate the economy through its dependence on other industries such as glass, rubber and steel, which were connected to the production of cars. These automobile related industries created new jobs, greater affluence and more spending power for millions of American consumers. Even at the beginning of America’s transformation into the consumer culture of today the automobile was at the forefront this conversion.
Monsters were often depicted as friendly or misunderstood creatures. Hulk and Frankenstein’s monster are most often depicted in this manner in movies such as The Incredible Hulk, Van Helsing or even the more recent, “I, Frankenstein”. The “Friendly Monster” theme contributes to the shift in the world’s perspective. Shrek, The Muppets and the characters from Monsters Inc. are notable examples of this friendly theme. This theme closed the gap between the scary monsters of the past and modern day monsters.