The idea of a single currency for the United States, Canada, and Mexico usually refers to one of two approaches: the unilateral adoption of the U.S. dollar by Canada and Mexico-dollarization-or monetary union, the development of a joint currency that could be managed by all three countries. ;...

In January of this year, Jamil Mahuad, then president of Ecuador, startled his compatriots by proposing to eliminate the national currency, the sucre. Instead, Mahuad advanced, the U.S. dollar would replace the sucre for all purposes. Although a popular uprising forced him out of office a week...

Fiscal policy is at the very core of the profound economic transformation under way in Latin America. While price stabilization and liberalizing reforms have placed regional economies in a much more competitive position over the past two decades, the need for additional reform efforts-so-called...

During the 1990s, many Latin American countries began to address their problems with recession, inflation, and unemployment through dramatic economic reforms and monetary policy strategies that included exchange rate pegs, monetary aggregate targeting, or inflation targeting. Inflation...

Recent economic disturbances in Latin America-particularly the currency crises in Mexico in 1994-95 and Brazil in 1998-99-have prompted significant research and debate over financial sector reforms and appropriate monetary and fiscal policy for the region. The recent discussion over...