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....