Finance & Development articles from June 2002

Finance & Development archives from June 2002

From the editor.(Editorial)
June 1, 2002... THE INTERNATIONAL community is rallying around the aim of reaching the Millennium Development Goals--including halving the proportion of people suffering extreme poverty--by 2015. At each gathering of financial and political leaders,...

The controversy over oil funds.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2002... I read with interest "Oil Funds: Problems Posing as Solutions?" by Jeffrey Davis, Rolando Ossowski, James Daniel, and Steven Barnett (December 2001). However, despite the substantial empirical and country research that went into the article, I...

Mauritius: a case study.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2002... Arvind Subramanian's interesting article (December 2001), if anything, understates the uniqueness of Mauritius's achievements: a functioning pluralist democracy; consensual coalition politics, sustainable development, and a model welfare state....

Johannesburg summit 2002. (In Brief).(World Summit on Sustainable Development)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The international community is gearing up for the next in a series of key global conferences to be held this year to focus attention on the need for faster progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals--an ambitious agenda for...

Technical assistance for Africa. (In Brief).(International Monetary Bank and African Development Bank work together)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The biggest obstacle encountered by African economies striving for sustainable growth often is not lack of political will but lack of capacity. As part of its commitment to help African countries promote growth and reduce poverty under the New...

East Timor to join IMF. (In Brief).(International Monetary Fund)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... On May 20, 2002, East Timor formally gained its independence, following hundreds of years of colonial rule, a 24-year annexation, and 21/2 years of transitional administration under the United Nations. In anticipation of this event, in late...

Is world poverty falling? (Point of View).(examining the statistics)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Real progress has been made in reducing poverty in recent years, particularly in India and China. However, there is still much uncertainty about the numbers. Using the same data, two reports released less than two years apart by the World Bank...

Building consensus on poverty reduction.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... AS THE twentieth century drew to a close, there was a growing realization among development practitioners that a fundamental change in approach was needed to achieve the international development goals by the target date of 2015--including...

Taking stock of poverty reduction efforts.
June 1, 2002... WHAT EXACTLY is a poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), the centerpiece of the international community's new assault on poverty? It is essentially a road map prepared by countries themselves to help them better target public policies in...

Crafting Bolivia's PRSP. (5 Points of View).(poverty reduction strategy paper)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... BOLIVIA'S poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), known in Spanish as La Estrategia Boliviana de Reduccion de la Pobreza, was issued in March 2001. Building on an earlier national dialogue that began with the new government in 1997, it...

Is the PRGF living up to expectations?(Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility)
June 1, 2002... WHEN THE IMF launched the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) in 1999, it envisaged some far-reaching changes in its operations. First, there would be a change in the content of IMF-supported programs in low-income countries to...

An automatic safety net?
June 1, 2002... A series of World Bank case studies suggests that the poor bear the brunt of government spending cuts. Better safety nets that can provide more automatic protection are needed. WHEN COUNTRIES cut total public spending as part of...

Financial crises, poverty, and income distribution.(Mexican financial crisis of 1994-95)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... How do financial crises affect income distribution and the poor? A recent IMF study shows that poverty rises and, in some cases, so does inequality--underscoring the need for adequate and flexible safety nets, ideally in place before crises...

Reconciling conditionality and country ownership.(International Monetary Fund loans)
June 1, 2002... For the international community, one of the biggest challenges is how to reconcile the need for more country ownership of adjustment and reform programs with the need for conditions on IMF loans. Critics charge that IME conditions are too...

External debt and growth.
June 1, 2002... Reasonable levels of external debt that help finance productive investment may be expected to enhance growth, but beyond certain levels additional indebtedness may reduce growth. An IMF study estimates two critical turning points: when...

Odious debt.
June 1, 2002... Many developing countries are carrying debt incurred by rulers who borrowed without the people's consent and used the funds either to repress the people or for personal gain. A new approach is warranted to prevent dictators from running up...

Challenges in expanding aid flows.
June 1, 2002... To enable the developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, the target date, the international community is calling for an increase in foreign aid to 0.7 percent of industrial country GNP from 0.24 percent of GNP at...

The allure of the value-added tax.(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... The VAT began life in the more developed countries of Europe and Latin America but, over the past 25 years, has been adopted by a vast number of developing and transition countries. A recent IMF study concludes that the VAT can be a good way to...

Lessons from a decade of transition in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
June 1, 2002... A decade after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991, some transition economies are performing far better than others. A recent World Bank study finds that poor incentives for the creation of new firms is the single biggest obstacle....

The International Financial Architecture. (Book Reviews).
June 1, 2002... Peter B. Kenen The International Financial Architecture What's New? What's Missing? Institute for International Economics, Washington, 2001, xiv + 186 pp., $20 (paper). SINCE the 1994 Mexican crisis, there has been a rigorous...

Corporate Financing and Governance in Japan. (Book Reviews).(Road to the Future)
June 1, 2002... Takeo Hoshi and Anil K. Kashyap Corporate Financing and Governance in Japan The Road to the Future MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2001, xx + 358 pp., $35.00 (cloth). TOUTED as the catalyst of the Japanese "miracle" only...

Building Capitalism & The Tragedy of Russia's Reforms. (Book Reviews).(Building Capitalism: The Transformation of the Former Soviet Bloc; Tragedy of Russia's Reforms: Market Bolshevism Against Democracy)
June 1, 2002... Anders Aslund Building Capitalism The Transformation of the Former Soviet Bloc Cambridge University Press, New York/Cambridge, England, 2002, xvii + 508 pp., $80/[pounds sterling]55 (cloth), $26.95/[pounds sterling]19.95 (paper)....

Europe in the New Century.(Visions of an Emerging Superpower)
June 1, 2002... Robert J. Guttman (editor) Visions of an Emerging Superpower Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, Colorado, 2001, xii + 268 pp., $16.95 (paper). This lively collection of essays and interviews examines the political and economic future...

Why are G-3 exchange rates so fickle? (Straight Talk).(United States, Japan, and Europe )
June 1, 2002... The mystery of the volatility of the world's three key currencies continues, despite leading economist Rudiger Dornbusch's path-breaking insights. LAST NOVEMBER, at the IMF's Second Annual Research conference, it was my good fortune to be...