He says he wants Costa Rica to follow the Netherlands, combining economic efficiency and high social spending.

ECONOMIST: Costa Rica's election

As work sponsored by the California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research Program has shown quite well, boosting energy efficiency in high-tech industries offers huge economic side benefits in terms of increased reliability and productivity.

FORBES: Evan Mills

But the Japanese seem more than willing to continue forgoing some economic efficiency to attain key social and political objectives -- an economy with reasonable growth that provides high wages, stable jobs and a sense of community.

CNN: Misreading Japan