This paper considers policies of the industrialized countries, as they pertain to crises in emerging markets. These fall into three areas: (1) their own macroeconomic policies, which determine the global financial environment; (2) their role in responding to crises when they occur, particularly...

Optimum currency area theory says that trade patterns and cyclical correlations are important criteria for whether a country should join a monetary area such as EMU. But these criteria are endogenous. Recent econometric estimates suggest that currency unions have far greater effects on trade...