Should the government run fiscal deficits in response to an adverse external shock that warrants transfer of resources from production of non-traded to traded goods? This paper considers normative fiscal policy implications of sectoral adjustment costs in a two-sector model with overlapping...

Indicators of government activity must be carefully designed to be relevant, credible and accountable. Frustration with reform pressures suggests that measures of policy activity are not providing accurate information. In fact, indicators of product or labour market regulation fail to measure...