At first glance, the experiences of Asia’s most advanced economies – Japan and the four “Asian Tigers” (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan) – seem to be consistent with this theory. In 1971-1973, Japan’s per capita GDP fell to roughly 65% of that of the United States in purchasing-power-parity terms, while the Asian Tigers experienced economic downturns of varying degrees when they reached roughly the same income level relative to Japan.
乍一看，亚洲最发达经济体——日本和“亚洲四小龙”（香港、新加坡、韩国和台湾）——都符合这一理论。1971—1973年，按购买力平价计算的日本人均GDP落在美国的65%左右，而亚洲四小龙也在到达相对日本的类似收入水平时经历了不同程度的经济放缓。