The Economic Gang: One Man's Experiences Fighting Japan, Inc

If you thought Enron and WorldCom were bad, you haven't read anything yet. This fascinating book uncovers the truth behind the Japanese financial system that makes Enron seem trivial by comparison. Japan is the world's second-largest economy and yet it has seen its credit rating downgraded three times recently; their government bonds, in fact, are ranked on a par with third-world countries such as Latvia, Cyprus, and Botswana. Japan also holds a great deal of American public debt and many American pension plans are invested in Japanese companies. The collapse of Enron caused disruption in millions of Americans' pension plans and yet Enron was a single company. Imagine what would happen if an entire economy turned upside down.

What should have been a simple business deal became a 25 year struggle against the Japanese financial system when the combined forces of the securities companies, Ministry of Finance, government bureaucrats, and other power brokers turned against an ordinary investor when he refused to sell his stock. Rather than give in to such overwhelming odds, he fought them and dedicated his life to reforming the system that allows such corruption. The Economic Gang relates the engaging, personal story of one man's rise to success and the subsequent difficulties he faced when the Japanese powers-that-be turned against him. The Japanese financial system is not like the financial system in the U.S. or other open markets and is therefore open for corruption and abuse by insider powers. This fascinating book describes the collusion between securities companies, the Japanese courts, banks, and various government officials to force stock sales, prevent further buying or takeovers (real or imagined), and the awesome power held by insiders in Japan. The book also includes the efforts of highly placed U.S. Congressmen and SEC members to bring pressure on the Japanese system and to open up their system in order to protect American interests and the interests of ordinary investors.

About the Author:
T.H. Wang was born in 1926 in Taiwan, when Taiwan was a colony of the Japanese. He went to school in Japan and during the war went into business providing food for a hungry population. After the war, he started a finance company to assist companies in the post-war era. Later, he moved to Hong Kong where he started a successful property development business. He then began to invest in Japanese companies, enjoying good success until he chose not to sell shares of a stock he held, whereupon the issuing company and securities houses conspired to block any more purchases. The author has been fighting for reform in the Japanese financial system for over 20 years and this is his fifth book in this regard and is the first to be published here in the U.S.