This two volume set brings together a key selection of papers written by Jacques J. Polak over the last 50 years in the fields of economics, econometrics and finance.

In the terminology of the International Monetary Fund, "conditionality" refers to the policies the Fund expects a member to follow in order to be able to avail itself of credit from the Fund (Gold, 1979). Over the years, major changes in the landscape surrounding the Fund and in the situation of...

This paper describes how the changed conditions in the international monetary system have undermined the role originally envisaged for the SDR. It argues that the concept of a global stock of international liquidity, which was fundamental to the creation of the SDR, is now no longer relevant....

This paper describes the origin, evolution, and results of two initiatives taken by the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Both initiatives aimed at facilitating large-scale lending by the IMF (or in close parallel to the IMF), primarily in support of the two reserve currencies of the...

This paper describes how the changed conditions in the international monetary system have undermined the role originally envisaged for the SDR. It argues that the concept of a global stock of international liquidity, which was fundamental to the creation of the SDR, is now no longer relevant....