Is the World Ready for a New Ideology of Reform?
Easterly concedes that Japan is exemplifying a successful big push, a governmentcoordinated
expansion of interdependent industries that sidesteps hold-up problems.
That Japan joined the modern world remarkably quickly is clear. The Meiji Restoration
took place in 1868, and by the end ofWorldWar I. Japan was an industrial economy on
par with much of Europe. But most of its big push was likely not government
coordinated. Rather, Japan’s economic history suggests a big push can succeed under
certain circumstances despite gloomy evidence to the contrary. Specifically,