The Culture of commerce

Summary: This program explores the systemic differences between the individualistic capitalism of America and Britain, and the communitarian capitalism of Japan and Germany. It shows how both Japan and Germany embrace more collaborative relations between labor and management, government and business, and even among businesses than the more laissez-faire American system. Both Japan and Germany invest heavily in worker training and long-term employment guarantees. The Japanese system is dominated by families of companies which finance and own each other; the German system by banks which are investors as well as lenders; the American system by entrepreneurs and absentee, mutual-fund type owners and managers who wield great power.