AN ECONOMIC PEARL HARBOUR

An Economic Pearl Harbour ~ 222 ~ exchange reserves totalling 74 billion dollars in 1984. (The Times of India, 13-14 June 1985). How did Japan turn its military defeat into an economic victory? By encouraging patience and perseverance and avoiding provocation, it concentrated its energies on peaceful (and, of course, remunerative) fields, rather than indulge in retaliatory violence. It initially accepted the military and political supremacy of other nations, quickly adapting itself to new scales of values, then set about the economic rehabilitation of the country without wasting a single moment on bewailing lost opportunities, blaming others for its misfortunes or on pointless nostalgia. Rather than make further mistakes—Pearl Harbour having been the worst—it concentrated all of its attention on seizing existing opportunities. In short, Japan accepted the blame for its own destruction, and, once having done so, was able seriously to launch itself on its own economic uplift. We must never lose sight of the fact that we are not lone travellers on this earth. There are always others who are trying to race ahead of us in this world of