Bankrupting the Enemy : The U.S. Financial Siege of Japan Before Pearl Harbor

Award-winning Author Edward S. Miller Contends That The United States Forced Japan Into International Bankruptcy To Deter Its Aggression. While Researching Newly Declassified Records, The Retired Chief Financial Executive Of A Fortune 500 Resources Corporation Uncovered Just How Much Money Mattered. The Japanese Government Had A Huge Cache Of Dollars Fraudulently Hidden In New York That, Once Discovered, It Scrambled To Extract. But In July 1941, President Roosevelt Froze The Money In An Effort To Bring Japan To Its Senses, Not Its Knees. His Intentions Were Thwarted, However, By Opportunistic Bureaucrats Who Maneuvered To Deny Japan The Dollars Needed To Buy Oil And Other Resources For Its Economic Survival. Miller's Analysis Of Prewar Documents, Including A Massive Oss-state Department Study, Clearly Demonstrates That The Deprivations Facing The Japanese People As A Result Of The Freeze Buttressed Japan's Choice Of War At Pearl Harbor.--jacket. Introduction: Bankruptcy -- Trading With The Enemy -- The 1930s: Financial Power Slumbering -- Hanging By A Silken Thread -- Japan's Failed Quest For Dollars Through Manufacturing -- Anticipating Japan's Bankruptcy, 1937-1940 -- Birth Of An Embargo Strategy: The Alternative To Bankrupting Japan -- Export Controls, 1940 To Mid-1941 -- The Japanese Financial Fraud In New York -- An Aborted Financial Freeze, Early 1941 -- Japan's Vulnerability In Strategic Resources -- The Vulnerability Of The Japanese Economy And People -- The Vulnerability Of Japanese Exports To The United States -- The Vulnerability Of Japan In Petroleum -- Momentum For The Financial Freeze, May-july 1941 -- The Fictitious U.s. Oil Shortage -- Freeze: The Crucial Month Of August 1941 -- Barter And Bankruptcy -- Calamity: The Economy Under Siege -- Futility: The Final Negotiations -- Epilogue: Bankruptcy And War Crimes. Edward S. Miller. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 293-311) And Index. Award-winning author Edward S. Miller contends in this new work that the United States forced Japan into international bankruptcy to deter its aggression. While researching newly declassified records of the Treasury and Federal Reserve, Miller, a retired chief financial executive of a Fortune 500 resources corporation, uncovered just how much money mattered. Washington experts confidently predicted that the war in China would bankrupt Japan, not knowing that the Japanese government had a huge cache of dollars fraudulently hidden in New York. Once discovered, Japan scrambled to extract the money. But, Miller explains, in July 1941 President Roosevelt invoked a long-forgotten clause of the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 to freeze Japan s dollars and forbade it to sell its hoard of gold to the U.S. Treasury, the only open gold market after 1939. Roosevelt s temporary gambit to bring Japan to its senses, not its knees, was thwarted, however, by opportunistic bureaucrats. Dean Acheson, his handpicked administrator, slyly maneuvered to deny Japan the dollars needed to buy oil and other resources for war and for economic survival. Miller's lucid writing and thorough understanding of the complexities of international finance enable readers unfamiliar with financial concepts and terminology to grasp his explanation of the impact of U.S. economic policies on Japan. His review of thirty-seven studies of Japan's resource deficiencies begs the question of why no U.S. agency calculated the impact of the freeze on Japan's overall economy. His analysis of a massive OSS-State Department study of prewar Japan clearly demonstrates that the deprivations facing the Japanese people were the country to remain in financial limbo buttressed its choice of war at Pearl Harbor. Such a well-documented study is certain to be recognized for its significant contributions to the historiography of the origins of the Pacific War.

List of Illustrations Prologue: War Plan Orange Sources and Technical Notes Acknowledgements Bankruptcy Trading with the Enemy The 1930s: Financial Power Slumbering Hanging by a Silken Thread Japan's Failed Quest for Dollars through Manufacturing Anticipating Japan's Bankruptcy, 1937-1940 Birth of an Embargo Strategy: The Alternative to Bankrupting Japan Export Controls, 1940 to Mid-1941 The Japanese Financial Fraud in New York An Aborted Financial Freeze, Early 1941 Japan's Vulnerability in Strategic Resources The Vulnerability of the Japanese Economy and People The Vulnerability of Japanese Exports to the United States The Vulnerability of Japan in Petroleum Momentum for the Financial Freeze, May-July 1941 The Fictitious U.S. Oil Shortage Freeze: The Crucial Month of August 1941 Barter and Bankruptcy Calamity: The Economy under Siege Furtility: The Final Negotiations Bankruptcy and War Crimes The U.S. Oil Shortage that Never Was Details of the OSS/State Department Study of Japanese Foreign Trade and Finance Notes Bibliography Index This book and nook book (electronic version from Barnes and Noble details the progressive deterioration of American Japanese relations during the 15 years prior to Pearl Harbor. It takes the position that the US's embargo of Japan added fuel to the fire resulting in the Pearl Harbor Attack on the US and the subsequent entry of the US into WW II. Reflection whether the current economic challenge to Russia bears a parallel to the above.