This article addresses the similarities between Japan's current economy and the United State's economy. It starts on an optimistic mood, saying that Tokyo has been recovering fairly well from its years of economic stagnation. However, the author then points out that three things, namely bureaucracy, tradition, and overregulation are holding it back. He addresses tradition by pointing to how Japan's aversion to firing people has caused a greater dependence on manual labor instead of newer technologies. Like the US, it also suffers from tax loopholes and needs a better tax policy. The article ends on a hopeful note, conceding that although Tokyo has fallen behind other Asian cities like Shanghai, it could still get back on track.
One of the rhetorical devices the author uses is a full-circle ending. He begins by mentioning the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe's "three arrow" policy and ends reflecting on the effectiveness of this policy. It also appeals to logos by citing many statistics, including that Japan ranks last among 24 developed nations in terms of entrepreneurial activity.
The audience of this article is probably people who are somewhat informed about economics. As someone who isn't really informed about such things, some of the statistics the article listed confused me because I wasn't sure what point the author was trying to make with them. Overall, I don't think the author achieved his purpose, which was to point out mistakes Japan has made that the United States could learn from. Had the author incorporated more detail about the US economy and made more comparisons, I may have understood. However, since I am probably not his audience, maybe he didn't feel the need to. I also noticed that he did not mention a lot about government overregulation, even though it was one of his three key points.
Steven Rattner is a Wall Street financer, chairman of Willett Advisers in New York, and economic analyst for MSNBC.
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