6, 103.
intended to work. Although the gap between Japanese production costs and American production costs was reduced from the $2,500 of 1983 to $1,900 in 1986, almost all of the gain resulted from changes in the international currency exchange value of the Japanese yen, rather than a productivity catch up by the American automobile manufacturers.9 Since that time, the dollar has appreciated against the yen, and the gap has once again widened.
The fact that the American technological initiative did not work as intended represents a faulty implementation of strategy on the part of the Ameri
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