"What does US aid 'buy' in the Middle East? Drawing on extensive primary source research, this book examines the role and consequences of US aid to three countries in the Middle East. The author argues that the political survival strategies of incumbent leaders in Egypt, Israel, and Jordan...

Comparing the performances of the Austral, Cruzado and Sheqel programs shows that the latent suggestion that a “heterodox” stabilization program can be implemented without tight fiscal discipline to support a restrictive monetary policy, though welcome in the politicial arena, is...

This paper strengthens the claim made by Vito Tanzi that when the effect of a high inflation on the tax system is taken into account, then the overall revenues from inflationary finance may well be negative. The paper analyzes some genuine and neat measures taken in Israel in an attempt to...

Although accommodative policies and widespread indexation may account for the persistence of high inflation, they cannot explain changes in the inflation rate. This paper examines the causes of such changes for the high-inflation episodes immediately preceding the recent “heterodox” attempts...

The paper analyzes the development of government social expenditure during the economic stabilization period, with specific reference to the changing needs for such expenditure arising from the change in Israel’s demographic structure. The results reveal a real cut in direct services. The...

This paper reviews economic developments in Israel during 1990–94. During the first half of 1993, there was a significant slowing of the domestic economy largely as a result of a substantial scaling down of the public support provided to housing construction for immigrants, who were arriving...

Israel’s compliance with International Organization of Securities Commissions’ objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation has been assessed. The regulatory regime is well developed and in most respects is comparable with that of major jurisdictions. For the most part, it is compliant...

A full assessment of Israel’s compliance with the Insurance Core Principles (ICPs) of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) is presented. The Minister of Finance bears the political responsibility for supervisory oversight of the Israeli insurance system. Nonlife...

A detailed assessment of Israel’s compliance with the Basel Core Principles for effective banking supervision is presented. The Bachar reform that has been started in mid-2005 forced banks to divest most noncommercial banking activities, such as mutual funds, insurance, pension, and provident...

This paper presents detailed assessment of Israel’s compliance with Basel Committee on Payments and Settlement Systems Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems. A significant improvement in the payments landscape has been noted, with the high value payment system meeting most...