ABSTRACT
In 1945, the idea of high performing Asian economies was not in the mind of American or European economists. In the United States economists worried about the problems created by the demobilization of 20 million people (half from military ranks and half from war industries) and their integration into the civilian labor force. There were widespread fears that America might slide into a severe new depression. In Europe the central issues turned around the Allied occupation of German and Italy and the restoration of the war-devastated economies. In Asia the central issues were the demilitarization of Japan and the restoration of the nations that had been occupied by Japan. On the horizon were problems related to the dismantling of the colonial empires of Britain, France, and other European powers.
