"the idea ... all countries should modify the traditions and regulations governing their economies in line with global (or rather American) standards"; and US supremacy in general (I already hear the "anti-American!!!" counter-attacks)

But hasn't Japan been one of the major participants and beneficiaries of the post-war global trade boom? Is he saying that Japan should retreat into a protectionist cocoon? The argument that global trade is a uniquely U.S.-led program seems a bit weak to me, given the considerable and apparently enthusiastic involvement by Europe and the Far East--with Japan being one of the top two or three countries involved...