Thomas F. Cargill is Professor of Economics at the University of Nevada, Reno. He studies financial and central bank policy in Japan and the United States. Professor Cargill is co-author of The Political Economy of Japanese Monetary Policy (1997), Financial Policy and Central Banking in Japan (2001), and Postal Savings and Fiscal Investment in Japan (2003). He has published in the Journal of Comparative Economics, the Journal of Economic History, the Journal of Political Economy, and Monetary and Economic Studies.

Takayuki Sakamoto is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. He studies comparative political economy of industrialized democracies. Professor Sakamoto is the author of Economic Policy and Performance in Industrial Democracies (forthcoming) and Building Policy Legitimacy in Japan (1999). His articles have appeared in such journals as Comparative Political Studies, European Studies, the European Journal of Political Research, and Party Politics.