Iceland was badly hit by a fundamental mismatch between the assets and international liabilities of her banking system, with severe consequences for the welfare of the population. The country now has an International Monetary Fund programme. The paper asks three questions of the programme: Is it...

Poverty alleviation is typically addressed in financial programming through additive programs that target vulnerable groups but without modifying the underlying stabilization and adjustment targets. Instead, this paper integrates the poverty alleviation objective into the financial programming...

This paper examines the issue of controlling fiscal corruption by providing incentives to fiscal officers. First, a case study of a successful attack on corruption is presented that shows the importance of attending to the conditions of service of fiscal officers. Second, a model is developed...

The IMF monetary model focuses on the balance of payments. This paper adds a poverty stabilization objective to it. Drawing on statistical income distribution theory, key aspects of the head count poverty indicator are introduced. The resulting model reproduces traditional balance of payments...

This paper reviews Haavelmo’s basic macroeconomic model, and argues that even though it was minted in the 1950s it remains highly relevant today. Key features that contribute to its relevance are that it integrates balance sheet transactions with flow activities such as production,...