Japan's Economy
Exports
Japan's exports have a trade value of about 700 billion dollars.
- Automobiles- 13.6%
- Semiconductors- 6.2%
Top Export Partners
- China
- United States
- South Korea
Imports
- Petroleum- 15.5%
- Liquid natural gas- 5.7%
Top Import Partners
- China
- Australia
- Saudi Arabia
Overall Economy
Economy: Market
GDP: $4.729 trillion (5th highest in the world)Unemployment rate: 4.4%
Population below poverty line: 16%
Trade
Market Economy in Japan
Voluntary trade creates wealth: In the early 1900's, the Japanese began to trade more, and their economy responded very positively to this. (And then WWII hit and that's a whole other story). Japan's free market and global trade gives their economy the upper hand in the world, because they have freedom of choice and make intelligent trade decisions.
People can't have everything they want so people choose: On Japan, an island, it is inefficient, expensive, and tedious for people to get everything they want. Its people are forced to choose from a very limited amount of goods what they buy.
All choices involve costs: Especially in a country like Japan, it is very expensive to import and export products and provide services because of the scarcity of so many products. Despite having more access to these things than the country used to have, it is very prevalent that all decisions citizens of Japan make involve costs.
The consequences of choice lie in the future: With a wealthy country like Japan, this point is extremely relevant. Decisions corporations make in the future will greatly influence their economy. Since the economy is so reliant on the automobile industry, choices made in that field definitely lie in the future, and will likely determine the country's economic standpoint in the years to come.
Production Possibilities Chart (minus graph)
Works Cited
"Japan." Economy: Population, Facts, GDP, Business, Trade, Unemployment. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.