"According to the conventional wisdom, when an economy enters a recession and nominal prices adjust slowly, the monetary authority should devalue the domestic currency to make the recession less severe. The reason is that a devaluation of the currency lowers the relative price of non-tradable...

Iran's economic performance in the last two decades has been very disappointing. This is highlighted by the fact that per capita GDP was 16 percent lower in 1998 than in 1979. However, the most important single reason for this poor performance was not any domestic economic policy, but the long...

The World Bank's June 23 report, "Disengagement, the Palestinian Economy and the Settlements," warns of the potential disintegration of the Palestinian economy under the sustained pressures of conflict and Israeli closure policies--a situation which is potentially ruinous for both Palestinians...

The Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to experience a severe fiscal crisis, which threatens to become protracted given recent and projected declines in donor assistance. The PA is making a concerted effort to strengthen its fiscal position, including taking steps to raise domestic revenues...