Preview

1
The Rise of Pacific Rim Economies

• Preview
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• Postwar Japan
• The Pacific Rim
• The Asian Tigers
• Visual Study Guide / Quick Facts
• Video The Impact of Vietnams Location

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The Rise of Pacific Rim Economies
Main Idea The nations of the Asian Pacific Rim
underwent remarkable economic growth in the years
after World War II, but significant challenges
remain.

• Reading Focus
• How did Japan change during the postwar years?
• How did the nations of the Pacific Rim change
  after World War II?
• How did the Asian Tigers develop?

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Postwar Japan
Japan suffered terrible destruction during World
War II. After the war, the nation needed to
rebuild its government and economy.
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Next Steps

• Building Democratic Government
• Second step began with new constitution for
  Japan, went into effect in 1947
• Gave more power to Japanese people, established
  parliamentary democracy, gave all Japanese adults
  right to vote for Japans Diet

• Human Rights
• Emperor no longer sacred being, simply symbol of
  the state
• Great emphasis placed on importance of human
  rights, greatly expanded civil rights, including
  freedom of speech, assembly, religion

• Political Parties
• New constitution forbade Japan from building
  military capable of attacking other countries,
  guaranteed right to organize political parties
• Most important new party, Liberal Democratic
  Party (LDP), conservative party with pro-U.S.
  foreign policy

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Final Step

• Third step, rebuilding Japanese economy
• MacArthur made many economic changes
• Sought to break up large organizations known as
  zaibatsu that had dominated Japanese industry
• Established land reform program to give farmland
  to farmers who had previously rented land

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• Economic Recovery
• U.S. economic aid flowed freely biggest boost
  came with outbreak of Korean War, 1950
• During conflict Japan served as key source of
  supplies for U.S., UN forces fighting in nearby
  Korea

• Foreign Trade, Consumer Goods
• After Korean War, Japan built economy around
  foreign trade, production of consumer goods
• Constructed modern factories, quickly rebuilt
  heavy industry, including steel, automobile
  manufacturing

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Rising Economy
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Social Changes
The postwar economic growth led to an improved
standard of living for Japanese workers and
brought Japan many other social changes.
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Summarize How did Japan change in the postwar
years?
Answer(s) standard of living improved economy
grew culture adopted some American elements
gender roles changed
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The Pacific Rim
The Pacific Rim refers to the countries bordering
or located in the Pacific Ocean. Like Japan,
other nations in the Asian Pacific Rim worked to
rebuild economies and support democracy after the
war.
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North Korea and South Korea

• Korea remained divided nation after end of Korean
  War in 1953
• North Korean dictator Kim II Sung formed Soviet
  model government state controls much of economy,
  spending on heavy industry, military
• North Korea made significant gains with Soviet,
  Chinese aid
• Poverty, food shortages spread across nation as
  foreign aid decreased

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• Taiwan
• 1949, Guomindang nationalists settled on Taiwan
• With U.S. economic, military aid, Taiwan built
  successful economy based on international trade,
  consumer goods
• 1980s, ended martial law, allowed other political
  parties to form

• Movement Toward Democracy Continues
• Movement toward democracy continued in later
  years
• Today, China views Taiwan as integral part of
  China
• Insists two areas eventually will be reunited
• Taiwan resists pressure from China

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Summarize How did most of the Pacific Rim
nations move toward democracy?
Answer(s) with U.S. economic aid
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The Asian Tigers
While Japan was building one of the worlds
strongest economies in the years after World War
II, other Asian nations were also making great
economic gains. Because of economic successes,
South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore
became known as the Asian Tigers.
The nations further benefited from their access
to the major shipping routes of the Pacific Ocean.
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Manufacturing

• As in Japan, Asian Tigers focused on growth
• Growth came through exports of consumer goods,
  primarily to United States
• Low costs for labor, production, as well as
  loyal, dedicated workforce allowed manufacture of
  low-cost products that could sell in U.S.

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An Economic Crisis

• Success Led to Failure
• 1997, economies of Japan, Asian Tigers suffered
  shock when severe financial crisis hit region,
  partly due to regions great success
• Superior performance led foreign companies to
  invest heavily in economies

• Thailands Banks Failed
• Lack of government regulations allowed Asian
  Tiger banks to borrow more than they needed
• Crisis began when banks began to fail in Thailand

• Financial Panic
• Financial panic quickly spread through region
  foreign investors sold holdings
• Stock, real estate prices collapsed, currencies
  lost value
• Region overwhelmed by debts it could not pay
  collapse undid years of progress

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An Asian Century

• Economic Recovery
• Over the following decade, region began to
  recover from economic disaster

• Economic Powers
• Nations like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand,
  Philippines began to emerge as economic powers

• Asian Miracle
• Great success of many Asian economies had many
  observers celebrating so-called Asian miracle

• An Asian Century
• Some predicted 2000s would be Asian Century
• Asia to surpass Europe, North America as dominant
  economic region in world

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Find the Main Idea How did the Asian Tigers
follow Japans model of economic growth?
Answer(s) provided education and training for
workers focused on exports
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(No Transcript)
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VideoThe Impact of Vietnams Location
Click above to play the video.