During his distinguished career at the IMF, Jacques J. Polak served as both Director of Research and, subsequently as a member of the IMF Executive Board. His distinct contribution to the discipline of international financial policy is highlighted in this book edited by Jacob A. Frenkel and...

The fiftieth anniversary of the Bretton Woods Conference served as an opportunity to reappraise the desirability of strengthening the IMF's oversight of the functioning of the international monetary system. Whatever the design of an exchange rate system and the arrangements for the provision of...

This paper highlights key macroeconomic issues related to VAT harmonization. A model is developed which emphasizes the effects of changes in the time profile of various taxes on international behavior. Dynamic simulations reveal that the macroeconomic and welfare implications of VAT...

This paper deals with the early stages of transformation of centrally-planned economies (CPEs) into market economies during which expectations play a key role. It focuses on the transitional phase during which the economy is not any more a CPE but has not yet become a market economy. During this...

This paper discusses key issues relating to the design and implementation of monetary policy in an emerging European economic and monetary union. Specific institutional proposals for transition to EMU are neither endorsed nor dismissed. In examining the goals of monetary policy, the paper...

This paper addresses the question of reform of the international monetary system. It starts by identifying the sources of disenchantment with the performance of the present regime of floating exchange rates and by outlining the reasons for the lack of convergence of views about the...

This paper deals with the relations among international liquidity,the exchange-rate regime and the effectiveness of monetary policy. The first part of the paper contains an empirical study of the demand for international reserves. It is shown that (i) reserve holdings are a stable function of a...

This paper argues that macroeconomic policies for open economies differ, in fundamentally important ways, from the corresponding policies for closed economies.The openness of the economy imposes constraints on the effectiveness and proper conduct of macroeconomic policies and it also provides...

This paper reviews and analyzes the empirical record of exchange rates and prices during the 1970's and the analysis is based on the experience of the Dollar/Pound, the Dollar/French Franc and the Dollar/DM exchange rates. Section 2 presents the evidence on PPP during the 1970's and contrasts it...