When governments attempt stabilization why do they not undertake a programme certain to succeed? The paper discusses credibility when it is inconceivable that a programme will succeed with probability one. A cost-benefit analysis establishes an equilibrium programme that has some ex ante...

The monetary overhang, pervasive with price controls and shortages in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, offers close parallels to the post-1945 picture of Europe. At that time monetary reform was used in many countries, in one form or another, to bring liquid assets in line with the...

This paper provides a synthesis of the four papers on the Latin American and Caribbean economies: Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. It focuses on the following themes: macroeconomic stabilization and fiscal challenges, poverty and inequality, and the use of natural resources...