The Budget- Scant Respect for Law

growth that had worked with such remarkable efficiency during the two- and-a-half decades almost upto the end of 1972 came to an abrupt halt in the first quarter of 1974 when Japan's GNP declined in absolute terms. It was generally belloved last year that since Japan depended, much more than any of the other developed countries, on imported sources of energy, particularly petroleum crude, the Japanese economy would not only get a rude shock as a result of the steep rise in oil prices but would take several years to adjust to the new energy situation. The pes- simists were even convinced that Japan would never again see the high growth rates of the post-war period.