"Setting macroeconomic policy is especially difficult in fragile states. Macroeconomic Policy in Fragile States addresses the many issues involved and considers ways to improve the effectiveness of macroeconomic management in the face of these constraints."

The view that policies directed at the real exchange rate can have an important effect on economic growth has been gaining adherents in recent years. Unlike the traditional "misalignment" view that temporary departures of the real exchange rate from its equilibrium level harm growth by...

1. Introduction : varieties of financial crises -- 2. Chile 1982 : twin crises in the Southern Cone -- 3. ERM 1992 : bumps on the road to monetary unification -- 4. Mexico 1994 : travails of a star pupil -- 5. Asia 1997 : the miracle undermined -- 6. Russia 1998 : pitfalls of transition -- 7....

Using both regression- and VAR-based estimates, the paper finds that the exchange rate pass-through to import prices for a large number of countries is incomplete and larger than the pass-through to export prices. Previous studies have reported similar results, which give rise to the puzzle that...