Japanese/German Lesson: Opportunities for United States Industrial Strategy

摘要

How can we prepare to meet the changing threat to our national security. Whilethe United States concentrated on military containment of the Soviet Union, attention was diverted from our declining industrial base and from our decreasing ability to compete in the global economic arena. Our national security increasingly depends upon our ability to recapture our economic vitality. This requires a reevaluation of the role of government in the marketplace. Japan and Germany display an awareness of what it takes to compete globally. Their economies are export oriented and feature a high degree of government-industry-labor cooperation. Their governments have been successful in defining a sense of common purpose and in creating an environment in which their industries have flourished. Through leadership and incentives to industry, these two governments have enabled their industries to become more competitive. Our industries are at a disadvantage in competing against the increasing number of foreign government-industry-labor partnerships. It is time to rethink our government's role in developing an industrial strategy. This paper presents a framework through which we can increase our industrial competitiveness and meet the challenge of the global marketplace.