“Monopoly Capital” and Income Redistribution Policy

Many Marxian economists regard the contemporary Japanese economy as being at the stage of Monopoly Capitalism or State Monopoly Capitalism. They assert that Monopoly Capital, which dominates Japan, intensifies capitalist contradictions and that its exploitation of labor is the most inequitable facet of contemporary income distribution. Non-Marxian economics has an important applied field in industrial organization which examines whether Industrial or market organization in specific industries is in a desirable state or not. The ruling class of contemporary Japan consists typically of managers, not of capitalists. Managers, in cooperation with politicians, bureaucrats, and technocrats, form Japan's power elite. The most effective short-term measures for income redistribution are found in improving the social security system and increasing direct taxes such as the income and inheritance taxes. Little can be expected from the redistributional effect of the antimonopoly policy.