Is there a useful function for an international lender of last resort (ILLR)--defined as crisis lender and crisis manager? Yes for international capital flows are excessively volatile and contagious, and because an ILLR can help mitigate the effects of this instability. I examine the Bagehot...

The authors analyze the growth and stabilization experience in twenty-six transition economies in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Mongolia for the period 1989-94. Inflation rates have declined significantly in most countries following an inflation stabilization program. Typically,...

In this paper, we consider the reform process in those Central and East European countries that have made the decision to move from a more-or a less-planned socialist system to a private market economy, one in which private ownership predominates and most resources are allocated through markets....

The bipolar or two-corner solution view of exchange rates is that intermediate policy regimes between hard pegs and floating are not sustainable. This paper argues that the proponents of the bipolar view have probably exaggerated their point. The right statement is that for countries open to...