2025 Abe Fellows Global Forum

Описание: Globalization, Trade and Labor, and the Distribution of Wealth and Resources in Japan and the United States

Recent elections in the United States, Japan, and Europe have shown public dissatisfaction with global society and the economy. Commentaries on United States electoral politics have argued that globalization’s impact on the domestic economy—most significantly, the offshoring of manufacturing and subsequent loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs—was the key factor in shaping a polarized society, characterized by a large underclass that has not shared in economic prosperity. In Japan, although political polarization has not been as extreme, the last several decades have seen an increased precarity of labor.

In this 2025 session of the Abe Fellows Global Forum, four leading experts from the United States and Japan will examine the impact of globalization on the domestic economies of both countries, looking at the impact of global trade, the creation of international supply-chains, the realignment of production systems, and accompanying social changes. While the Trump administration promises to return to the “golden age” of American manufacturing, this is clearly a promise that will be difficult to fulfill. Though structural changes in developed countries are often linked to the offshoring of manufacturing, those relocations occurred at a time of major technological transformation. In recent decades, there has been a worldwide shift to the use of highly automated machinery and technology in manufacturing. Even if manufacturing “returns” to developed countries, it will not produce a surge in well-paying manufacturing jobs. These are the big questions facing Japan and the United States: how can each country best manage this structural transition? How can we create more stable and equitable distributions of income that will reduce polarization?