Many quantitative empirical studies of retirement preparedness find that a substantial number of US households face a potential financial crisis at some point in the future. This monograph provides a critical survey of the most important and best-known of these studies, and it also examines the...

This study examines the composition of fiscal adjustment - tax and expenditure policies and administrative procedures, and some aspects of public enterprise reform - in a sample of eight countries (Bangladesh, Chile, Ghana, India, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, and Thailand) during a period of fiscal...

Pension reforms that establish individual accounts will diminish the relative importance of the traditional state pension while creating a significant role for individual accounts in providing income for retirement. This paper surveys the policy issues this new role entails. It offers general...

Central banks and other public financial institutions act as agents of fiscal policy in many countries. Their ""quasi-fiscal"" operations and activities can affect the overall public sector balance without affecting the budget deficit as conventionally measured, may also have important...

Developing countries with VATs typically exempt a large number of goods and services. Following a brief discussion of the rationale for exemptions, this paper presents a formula for the base of a VAT with exemptions. Two basic adjustments must be made to the base without exemptions: subtraction...

Pension reforms that establish individual accounts will diminish the relative importance of the traditional state pension while creating a significant role for individual accounts in providing income for retirement. This paper surveys the policy issues this new role entails. It offers general...