>Increasing imports will not do much to stimulate Japan. What would they
>get out of these concessions? Why would they concede?
You know the reasoning, Michael. Outside some competitive export sectors, Japanese domestic producers are cossetted, producing inferior goods at high prices. Opening up to imports would be a competitive tonic, and, when combined with deregulation of the retail sector, put an end to the situation in which a Sony TV costs less in New York than it does in Tokyo. This used to be called the "47th Street Photo" effect - the IMF even did a box on it in a World Economic Outlook a few years ago - but that was before 47th Street Photo went bankrupt.
Doug