The International Monetary Fund has been criticised from both the right and the left of the political spectrum with the right arguing that it is too interventionist and creates more problems than it solves and the left on occasion demanding that it be abolished altogether. What seems almost...

Over five decades of economic and technical assistance to the countries of Africa and the Middle East have failed to improve the life prospects for over 1.4 billion people who remain vulnerable. Billions of dollars have been spent on such assistance and yet little progress has been made....

<P>This book explains the necessary building blocks of economic coherence. It then develops a diagnostic approach to demonstrate how to identify impediments to the efficient functioning of essential economic processes. Finally, the book contains an extensive treatment of the policy-reform process,...</p>

1. From convergence to coherence : the new development opportunity -- 2. On economic coherence -- 3. Contending with economic incoherence : the notional state -- 4. Creating coherence : the role of institutions -- 5. Policy reform as institutional innovation -- 6. The diagnostic imperative -- 7....

The oil crisis of the 1970s and the recession of the 1980s set in motion a chain of events which had particularly serious consequences for the developing countries. In this text, the author examines the major causes and results of the situation, focusing mainly on Africa and Latin America