ABSTRACT
In 1992 the fortunes of Japanese capitalism took a dramatic turn for the worse. Growth was virtually squeezed out of the economy, with the GDP index registering a mere 0.4 per cent rise. This was the poorest economic performance since the oil shock of 1974, but in 1992 there was no external calamity on which to pin the blame. Alongside the paltry GDP increase, 1992 produced an array of equally negative economic statistics. Productivity decreased marginally within the economy as a whole (0.3 per cent) and more severely in the manufacturing sector (where there was a decline of 2.9 per cent in labour productivity). Wholesale prices fell by 1.5 per cent, which was the second annual drop in what would prove to be a succession of five consecutive years (1991-5) of falling prices. The official rate of unemployment edged up to 2.2 per cent, initiating an upward trend that would continue remorselessly throughout the 1990s and beyond, to reach 5 per cent in 2001. As for real wages, in 1992 they generally stagnated at 1991 levels, but in the manufacturing sector they even declined by 0.9 per cent (Nikkeiren 2001: 142-5 and Kamada 2002).
