Bankrupting the Enemy

The U.S. Financial Siege of Japan Before Pearl Harbor

Nonfiction, History, Military, World War II
Cover of the book Bankrupting the Enemy by Edward S. Miller, Naval Institute Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Edward S. Miller ISBN: 9781612511184
Publisher: Naval Institute Press Publication: October 11, 2012
Imprint: Naval Institute Press Language: English
Author: Edward S. Miller
ISBN: 9781612511184
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Publication: October 11, 2012
Imprint: Naval Institute Press
Language: English
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.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
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.

More books from Naval Institute Press

Cover of the book To Crown the Waves by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Beyond the Barrier by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Pirate Nation by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Japanese Destroyer Captain by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Exploiting Africa by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Practise to Deceive by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Rocky Boyer's War by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Nomonhan, 1939 by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Honor, Courage, Commitment by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Airpower Reborn by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book On Seas Contested by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Subchaser by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book At the Crossroads Between Peace and War by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book In Final Defense of the Reich by Edward S. Miller
Cover of the book Strategic Theories by Edward S. Miller
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy