EMMOTT, Bill 1956-

(William John Emmott)

PERSONAL: Born August 6, 1956, in London, England; son of Richard Anthony (an accountant) and Audrey Mary Emmott; married Charlotte Crowther, 1982 (divorced); married Carol Barbara Mawer, 1992. Education: Magdalen College, Oxford, B.A. (first class honors), 1978.

ADDRESSES: Office—Economist, 25 St. James's St., London SW1A 1HG, England. Agent—AWG Literary Agency Ltd., Flat 1, 3 Vicarage Gate, London W8 4HH, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer, journalist, and editor. Economist, London, England, correspondent for Brussels, Belgium, 1980–82, economics writer, 1982–83, correspondent for Tokyo, Japan, 1983–86, finance editor, 1986–88, business affairs editor, 1989–93; editorial director of intelligence unit, 1992, editor-in-chief, 1993–. Member, Trilateral commission, 1995.

AWARDS, HONORS: First prize, AMEX Bank Review essay competition in international economics, 1988; LL.D., University of Warwick, 1999.

WRITINGS:

(With Rupert Pennant-Rea) The Pocket Economist, Basil Blackwell (London, England), 1983, second edition, 1986.

The Sun Also Sets: The Limits to Japan's Economic Power, Times Books (New York, NY), 1989.

Japan's Global Reach: The Influences, Strategies, and Weaknesses of Japan's Multinational Companies, Century (London, England), 1991.

Japanophobia: The Myth of the Invincible Japanese, Times Books (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Koji Watanabe and Paul Wolfowitz) Managing the International System over the Next Ten Years: Three Essays, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1997.

20:21 Vision: Twentieth-Century Lessons for the Twenty-first Century, 2003.

Also author of Kanryo no Taizai (title means "The Bureaucrat's Deadly Sins).

SIDELIGHTS: Writer, journalist, and editor Bill Emmott has long been associated with the prominent business and free-market magazine the Economist. Several of Emmott's books have focused on Japan and that country's business and economic status. The Sun Also Sets: The Limits to Japan's Economic Power explores the truth behind dire warnings of Japan's seemingly unstoppable economic power and how there is a limit to what the admittedly mighty country can accomplish economically, both at home and abroad. Japan's Global Reach: The Influences, Strategies, and Weaknesses of Japan's Multinational Companies analyzes how Japan does business on a global scale and how it conducts itself in interactions with other countries and economies. Here, Emmott concludes that "the Japanese go about their business much as other nations do—with a pretty standard mix of good judgment, luck, mistakes, and shots in the dark," observed Jurek Martin in the Economist. "The only difference is that they may work a little harder at it." Emmott offers "a sound debunking of the conspiracy theory" that places Japanese businesses at an almost mythically greater advantage over American and other nations' companies. He notes that economic troubles at home have limited Japanese investment around the world, and that survival dictates that Japanese companies expand abroad in order to blunt the effects of global competition. In explaining the true nature of Japanese business power, Emmott "has written a sensible, evenhanded, and informative book," Martin concluded.

Japanophobia: The Myth of the Invincible Japanese covers in greater detail the unreasonable fear of the Japanese that many international companies harbor. "It solidly debunks the myth of Japan's invincibility and also attacks the notion of its viciousness, though with less fanfare and emphasis," observed Jagdish Bhagwati in the New Leader. Emmott covers six critical reasons why Japan has been quick to invest overseas, among them the need to avoid trade barriers; superior management styles applied to areas where there are lower wage rates; local representation in critical, highly competitive markets; and pursuit of Japanese customers living and working overseas. Failures have come along with successes, moderating the image of Japan as an unstoppable economic force. American fears of Japanese companies "are perhaps more about ourselves than Japan," remarked Oren Grad in Reason. In the end, stated reviewer Robert J. Crawford in Technology Review, Emmott concludes that "Japan is a capable though modest follower—hardly the formidable threat that the advocates of trade barriers claim it to be." Japanophobia "provides some long-needed perspective to the debate about Japan," Crawford concluded.

Emmott takes up the role of futurist in 20:21 Vision: Twentieth-Century Lessons for the Twenty-First Century, in which he offers "a coolly hopeful peek at the future," according to Terry Teachout in Book. Here the author considers the trends of the 1990s in making predictions that extend well into the twenty-first century. Emmott's prognostications cover areas such as global warming, Chinese-American conflict, Islamic terrorism, and currency collapse. Optimistically, he suggests that America should plan to react to the worst if it happens, but hope for the best. For Emmott, the two important questions are whether or not capitalism will continue to thrive throughout the world and whether the United States will persist in keeping the global peace that allows capitalism to take root and thrive where it might have been previously unwelcome.

In the end, Emmott "is hopeful that capitalism can expand its domain in the coming century," reported a Publishers Weekly reviewer. His "arguments are well grounded and his vision of the future is insightful," the critic added, while Booklist contributor Gilbert Taylor called 20:21 Vision "a sensible, comprehensible package of prophecies." Emmott provides "strong arguments for the continued success" of the United States and of capitalism, noted Thomas A. Karel in Library Journal. "It is hard to imagine a better defense of global capitalism than the one developed by Bill Emmott in 20:21 Vision," asserted John Gray in the New Statesman.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, February 22, 1993, Marcus W. Brauchli, review of Japan's Global Reach: The Influences, Strategies, and Weaknesses of Japan's Multinational Companies, p. 15.

Book, March-April, 2003, Terry Teachout, review of 20:21 Vision: Twentieth-Century Lessons for the Twenty-first Century, p. 75.

Booklist, February 15, 2003, Gilbert Taylor, review of 20:21 Vision, p. 1035.

Christian Science Monitor, December, 1993, Clayton James, review of Japanophobia: The Myth of the Invincible Japanese, p. 17.

Economist, October 24, 1992, Jurek Martin, review of Japan's Global Reach, p. 103.

Harvard International Review, summer, 2001, Gina Kramer, "All That's Fit to Print" (interview), p. 76.

International Affairs, July, 1993, Stephen Thomsen, review of Japan's Global Reach, p. 623.

Journal of Business Strategy, May, 2004, Michael Mainelli, "Back to Basics for Strategists," review of 20:21 Vision, p. 57.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2002, review of 20:21 Vision, p. 1819.

Library Journal, September 15, 1993, Joseph W. Leonard, review of Japanophobia, p. 88; February 15, 2003, Thomas A. Karel, review of 20:21 Vision, p. 154.

New Leader, April 11, 1994, Jagdish Bhagwati, review of Japanophobia, p. 17.

New Statesman, February 3, 2003, John Gray, "The Emptiness of a Secular Creed," review of 20:21 Vision, p. 48.

Newsweek, February 17, 1994, Bill Powell, "Two Books, Two Japans," review of Japanophobia, p. 34.

New York Times Book Review, January 9, 1994, Alan M. Webber, review of Japanophobia, p. 10; February 2, 2003, Michael Lind," 1 1/2 Cheers for Capitalism: The Editor of The Economist Explores Global Issues of the Twenty-first Century," review of 20:21 Vision, p. 25.

Publishers Weekly, October 18, 1993, review of Japanophobia, p. p. 59; February 10, 2003, review of 20:21 Vision, p. 178.

Reason, November, 1994, Oren Grad, review of Japanophobia, p. 63.

Spectator, January 25, 2003, G. G. Rousseau, "In America We Trust," review of 20:21 Vision, p. 46.

Technology Review, July, 1994, Robert J. Crawford, review of Japanophobia, p. 74.

ONLINE

Australian Broadcasting Corporation Web site, http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/ (October 3, 2004), Geraldine Doogue, Sunday Profile transcript of interview with Emmott.

Economist Online, http://www.economist.com/ (August 19, 2005), "Bill Emmott."

Forbes Online, http://www.forbes.com/ (February 14, 2003), "CEO Network Chat with Bill Emmott."