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The author reviews the debate on the causes of Argentina's economic collapse in late 2001 and 2002 and examines the measures needed to help restore sustainable growth. Some analysts stress fiscal imbalances, others overvaluation of the peso under the convertibility plan, and others external shocks. Cline judges that all three contributed substantially, but that it was their inflammatory interaction with domestic political unraveling that forced the bad-equilibrium outcome. He reviews the nascent recovery since the second half of 2002 and the important success of avoiding hyperinflation. Looking forward, the author's analysis underscores the importance of strengthening fiscal performance, in ...
Annotation Argentina has reformed its public finance system and reversed years of economic decline and deficit spending. This study recommends policy options to speed the already impressive progress. These options would expand the ambitious reform program already under way. This study shows how to sustain balanced public finances over the medium term. It describes ways to sustain price stability and economic growth while providing a cushion against unexpected downturns. Also examined are ways to improve social services while reducing the size of government. Researchers discuss key reforms that could boost the fiscal surplus by as much as 1.4 percent of gross domestic product. They look at wa...
This publication reviews Ecuador's fiscal management and public expenditure policies in the context of its development and poverty reduction goals. Findings include that the country's impressive fiscal performance of 2003 is encouraging but fragile, as several structural bottlenecks could impede fiscal discipline and recovery. Reversing poverty trends is critical for the country's stability, and this can only be achieved with well-targeted, effective and efficient pro-poor programmes.
Central America has made substantial progress in recent years in moving economic reforms forward and deepening regional and global integration. As result of these efforts, the region has experienced higher growth, increased capital inflows, and some reductions in poverty rates. But Central America remains vulnerable to adverse shocks and continues to face widespread poverty. While today Central America is in better condition to face such shocks, the current turmoil in global financial markets and U.S. growth slowdown could put at risk the hard-won gains of recent years. Faced with these challenges, the authorities are monitoring developments closely and are taking precautionary measures, but they also need to continue implementing productivity-enhancing reforms and measures aimed at reducing income inequality and poverty.
Think tank traditions is a follow up to the critically acclaimed monograph Think Tanks across Nations (Manchester University Press, 1998), edited by the same authors, which was widely acknowledged as a ground-breaking work in the comparative study of think tanks. The book looks at the historical role and contemporary significance of think tanks in the West, including Europe, the United States and Canada, as well as considering their activities in China, Eastern Europe and Argentina. In so doing, the book provides a broad-based and in-depth analysis of the role of think tanks in the processes of economic liberalization and democratization.
How does fiscal policy fare in improving the underlying income distribution in Central America? We integrate the data from a number of existing tax and public expenditure studies for the countries in the region and find that the distributional effect of taxation is regressive but small. In contrast, the redistributive impact of social spending is large and progressive, leading to a progressive net redistributive effect in all countries of the region. We also show that raising tax revenues and devoting the proceeds to social spending would unambiguously improve the income of the poorest households.
This publication explores current development challenges facing Ecuador and examines policy options available, under three key themes of fiscal consolidation and economic growth, promoting sustainable and equitable social development and governance and anti-corruption issues.
The Institutional Dimension.
This collection of more than a dozen essays focuses on the political dynamics of race, class, and nationalism in the contemporary Caribbean. Despite the plethora of studies on nationalism in the Caribbean, few have attempted to look at the phenomenon as a political invention that does not—and cannot—serve the interests of all: how essentialist, reductive, overdetermining nationalism is a political and conceptual confusion that forever stalls the project of universal human emancipation. Editors Scott Timcke and Shelene Gomes gather and frame chapters that, in their collective expression, help trace the process of race, class, and nationalism through the contours of a broader political, economic, and social geography. These chapters argue that notions of racial identity have changed over time, but those reformations are not independent of class rule or nationalism. By using several case studies that span the Anglo, Dutch, French, and Spanish Caribbean and focus on the development of political organizations, hardships, and ideology, each of these essays continues the struggle for liberation against elite entrenchment.