Crime Against Humanity: Pensée Unique in Economics, 30

Time period: from 1958 to 1998.
Phase one: the 1950s. Both increase sharply: cartels increase from about 400 to nearly 1000, Gross Domestic Product growth rate increases from about 6 percent to about 15 percent.
Phase two: the 1960s. Both maintain a steady trend: cartels average about nearly 1000, Gross Domestic Product growth rate averages about 15 percent.
Phase three: 1970s to 1990s. Both maintain a constant declining trend: cartels decline to nearly 0, Gross Domestic Product growth rate declines to less than 0.

So we have another yardstick here, and it speaks for itself.
Not only it is a testbed long enough to allow neoclassical structural reforms to prove themselves, but to further expand the sample it also happens to span across, and document, a complete set of trends: rising, steady, declining.
A conclusion? In Werner’s words, “The financial press and learned commentators assert almost on a daily basis that Japanese economic performance will improve if US−style capitalism is adopted. However, the truth is that there is no empirical foundation for such a claim. The structural reform argument must be considered an unfounded theory. If one did consult the empirical record, then one can only conclude that Japan’s structural reforms towards deregulation and liberalization have been accompanied by a steady reduction in economic growth, both in the short term and in the long run. Reforms may be ‘badly wanted’ by certain parts of society. However, it is far from clear that they are ‘badly needed’.
Especially in the 1990s the proponents of structural reform in Japan have dealt with this uncomfortable fact by simply moving the goalposts on the definition of structural reform. As the recession of the 1990s continued despite accelerating structural reform, it is simply claimed by the reformers that the continued weak economic performance is due to the insufficiency of reform: if even further−reaching reforms had been implemented, economic performance would surely improve. Obviously, this merely expands the range of unsubstantiated assertions, but does not constitute factual evidence.”