Finance & Development articles from December 1996

Finance & Development archives from December 1996

Ten principles of the new environmentalism.
December 1, 1996... A quiet revolution has been under way during the 1990s as environmental sustainability has gradually become an important theme in policymaking around the world. Recent years have witnessed a profound change in our understanding of the links...

Rural development, agriculture, and food security.
December 1, 1996... The fundamental challenge the world faces is to ensure that the hundreds of millions of families living in poverty have access to enough food to maintain a healthy life. Fostering the growth of national and global food supplies is necessary...

Cities in the developing world: agenda for action following Habitat II. (includes related article on Indonesia's Kampung Improvement Programs)
December 1, 1996... In developing countries' burgeoning cities, affluence and poverty are pitted against each other in a race to shape the future. What steps can governments take to reduce poverty, improve the urban environment, and achieve sustainable development?...

Expanding the measure of wealth. (includes related article on measurement of wealth)
December 1, 1996... Expanding measurements of national wealth to embrace natural and human resources can help to guide policies for sustainable development. Natural resources count, but people count for more. This is a lesson that Adam Smith understood when he...

Global financial markets: moving up the learning curve.
December 1, 1996... IMF RESEARCH DEPARTMENT STAFF After being burned by some costly crises, players in international financial markets are learning from past mistakes and finding new ways to minimize risk. During the last ten years, global financial markets and...

Foreign exchange markets: structure and systemic risks.
December 1, 1996... Foreign exchange trading involves such large cross-border settlements that a failure by one party to deliver the currency needed for a single settlement could disrupt the global financial system. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce settlement...

Managing risks to the international banking system. (includes related article on communication between banking supervisors)
December 1, 1996... Changes in the financial markets over the past decade have threatened the stability of the international financial system, spurring the G-10 to strengthen bank supervision and regulation. The challenge now is to extend the benefits of...

The difficult art of economic forecasting.
December 1, 1996... Economic forecasting is an art, not a science. Economic outcomes are often influenced by unanticipated events, and data may be inadequate, particularly in developing countries. The disappointing growth performances of some industrial and...

International capital markets update.
December 1, 1996... The years from 1992 to 1995 were marked by a series of crises in international financial markets; in contrast, the 12 months ending June 1996 have been a period of relative calm. Indeed, the global financial system appears to have emerged...

Maintaining price stability.
December 1, 1996... The enduring challenge facing central banks is to fight inflation. Central banks can best meet this challenge if they are independent and adopt a low inflation target with some flexibility for price shocks in recognition of the short-run...

What caused sub-Saharan Africa's marginalization in world trade?
December 1, 1996... Sub-Saharan Africa's share in world exports has been shrinking. The evidence suggests that anticompetitive domestic policies rather than trade barriers played a key role in this decline. Sub-Saharan Africa's importance in global trade has...

How do the urban poor manage in an economic crisis? (includes related article on four urban communities in Zambia, Ecuador, Hungary and the Philippines)
December 1, 1996... How do poor households in cities react when confronted with deteriorating conditions - when already low incomes decline, a tight job market becomes even tighter, and food and services cost more? Poverty reduction policies and programs need to...

Private sector development in the Visegrad countries.,
December 1, 1996... The Visegrad countries are enjoying solid economic growth driven by vibrant new private sectors. To make a successful transition to a market economy, however, they will need to push ahead with financial, legal, and regulatory reforms. The four...