Over the past decade, the United States has been very successful atcreating jobs. Some other industrial countries have clearly lagged behind. But what is the reason why some countries are more successful than others at creating employment? Are there common factors that explainjob creation? This...

Systemic bank restructing aims to improve bank performance - that is, restore solvency and profitability, improve the banking system's capacity to provide financial intermediation between savers and borrowers, and restore public confidence. The authors of this studyanalyzed the experiences of 24...

Over the past 25 years, the share of employment accouted for bymanufacturing has fallen dramatically in the world's most advanced economies, a phenomenon widely referred to as ""deindustrialization.""Many see deindustrialization as widening income inequalities and causinga sharp rise in...

Banking crises have led many countries to consider deposit insuranceschemes to protect depositors and the banking system itself from the impact of bank failures. But should society be unconditionally responsible for underwiting banking decisions, even those imprudentlytaken? This paper considers...

This pamphlet focuses exclusively on corrupt public practices. It liststhe potential causes and consequences of public corruption and presentsrecent evidence on the extent to which corruption affects investment,economic growth, and government expenditure choices. The evidence presented here...

Developing countries fortunate enough to experience capital inflows haveseen rising levels of investment and enhanced economic growth. Capitalinflows have a negative side, however, in that they tend to appreciatethe domestic currency, making exports less competitive, and to encourageinflation....

Open market operations are the major instruments of monetary control in industrial countries and are becoming important in developing countriesand countries in transition. This paper shows how open market operationsare related to other monetary instruments, discusses the role of the market and...

Reducing the budget deficit is not easy. Keynesian theory suggests thatlowering government expenditures and raising revenues can lead to afalloff in economic activity. This paper argues the neoclassical approach - that a firm and credible reduction in expenditures, by engendering confidence that...

The phenomenon of substantial peacetime budget deficits over the past20 years has been traced to the burden of entitlements, a slowdown ineconomic productivity, and demographic and macroeconomic shifts in theindustrial countries. Though smaller and structurally different, deficitsin developing...