The Power to Compete

How can Japan cure "the Japan Disease" and get its economy moving again? Despite Japan's enoromous wealth and global leadership in technology, its economy has been trapped in a seemingly endless period of stagnation.

One of Japan's most successful entrepreneurs tackles an issue that is central to the prosperity of Japan and the rest of the world. Co-author Hiroshi Mikitani is the founder and CEO of Rakuten, one of the world’s largest Internet companies. Mikitani selected the best person to help him think through the problem: his father, international economist, Ryoichi Mikitani, a professor at Kobe University for much of his career. Co-author Mikitani Sr. studied at Harvard with leading economists like Keynesian James Duesenberry and Nobel winner Wassily Leontief, and was a visiting fellow at Yale University. Sadly, Mikitani Sr. passed away shortly after this book was completed.

The Power to Compete is a freewheeling and candid conversation between Japan's leading entrepreneur and his economist father about how to cure the malaise caused by Japan's most pressing economic, business, political and cultural issues.

In The Power to Compete, Mikitani discusses Abenomics, and says that Japan is still drifting aimlessly, trying to live a "Galapagos' existence, shunning international frameworks and hiding from global realities. Mikitani's efforts include being a founding member and Chairman of JANE, the Japan Association of the New Economy, whose mission is to enhance Japan's competitiveness through expanded e-business and increased IT use. Mikitani Sr.'s background as an international economist help put the issues in perspective, while their banter lightens it up.