ABSTRACT
The Court came to repudiate Lochner v. New York and to refrain from interfering with economic policy-making function. Since then, Lochner has been treated as a prime example of bad constitutional decision. Economic liberties are given no serious constitutional protection by the Court in the United States. Economic liberties are subject to countless extra-legal restrictions in addition to legal restrictions. The chapter attempts to explore the curious contrasts between American and Japanese experience. It shows how economic liberties are protected in the United States and emphasizes the doctrinal framework within which the United States Supreme Court decides economic liberties cases and considers how economic liberties are actually protected in Japan. The existence of a corps of able bureaucrats in the Japanese executive departments certainly makes a notable difference. Japanese bureaucrats have more prestige than American bureaucrats. Japan has been indeed famous for the strong authority of its bureaucrats.
