Sir: Francis Pike pegs his claim that Europe lacks interest
in Asia on a conversation which he believes he had with me in 1992 when I was economic adviser to Neil Kin- nock. He alleges I said that I 'had never looked at an Asian economy'.
Mr Pike's memory must be seriously
defective. In a book published ten years earlier (Whatever Happened to Britain?, Duckworth, 1982), I present a detailed study of Japanese post-war economic poli- cy. I paid particular attention to the ideas of vice-minister Ojimi, the moving force at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. The book itself derived from arti- cles in scientific journals.
Contrary to Mr Pike's assertions, the Labour party has shown considerable inter- est in the economic successes of Asia, which contrast so sharply with the dismal cycles of boom and bust in the British econ- omy over the past 18 years.
Eatwell
House of Lords London SW1
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