Mike Smitka

My blogs

Gender	MALE
Industry	Consulting
Occupation	Economist
Location	Rockbridge County, Virginia, United States
Introduction	Professor Emeritus of Economics, Washington and Lee University. Over my career I've worked on 3 areas: the Japanese and Chinese economy, and the automotive industry. I read/write/speak Japanese, with 7 years in Tokyo and addition time in a Japanese company. But as interest in Japan waned, I turned my research efforts towards the global auto industry. I also taught a course on the Chinese economy for 30 years, and can now (at last) read. I'm on the Steering Committee for the global GERPISA academic research committee and have been a judge of the Automotive News PACE supplier innovation award for the past 25 years.
Interests	auto industry, automotive suppliers, technical change, japan, china
Favorite Music	I enjoy singing in choirs. My musical interests are eclectic, but lean towards anything vocal.
Favorite Books	Over the years I've read several hundred science fiction novels, but also like the Japanese business novel genre, which I read in Japanese. I also read history and (of course) things automotive. Currently I'm working on engineering texts - deep learning, electric vehicle architecture, autonomous vehicles, and materials science.