Straight Talk
: Articles Published in Finance and Development between 2003 and 2006
The
Great Game Again?
Countries' current attempts to acquire commodity-producing firms as a way of
ensuring their economic security in the face of declining commodities seem to
mirror the 19th-century struggle among powerful countries to acquire influence
in the Middle East and
From
Paternalistic to Enabling
India needs to exchange its paternalistic, directive government, which seeks to
remedy every wrong through a subsidy, a quota, or a scheme, for one that
creates an enabling environment for the people and unleashes their
entrepreneurial zeal.
Microfinance is increasingly being touted as a miracle cure for poverty. But
instead of focusing solely on microcredit for the
poor, we should make financial services available for all, says the IMF's Economic Counsellor.
Aid
and Growth: The Policy Challenge
The IMF's Economic Counsellor
says we need more than aid to break the cycle of poverty. He argues that if the
campaign to make poverty history is to succeed, then the failures of the past
must be recognized, starting with recognition of the chequered
history of aid.
Risky
Business
The IMF’s Economic Counsellor
argues that skewed incentives for investment managers may be adding to global
financial risk. While the techniques and instruments to absorb fluctuations
have improved, there is a great deal of uncertainty about how they will perform
in a serious downturn
Debt
Relief and Growth
The IMF's Economic Counsellor explains why one-size-fits-all proposals for
debt relief to poor countries may be politically convenient but don't
necessarily make economic sense.
Rules
versus Discretion
Should the IMF have less of a free hand in resolving crises? The Director of
the IMF's Research Department examines whether or not
the IMF should follow many central banks in adopting more of a rules-based
approach to problems.
Odious
or Just Malodorous
While the proposal to declare debt accumulated under dictatorships as odious is
well motivated, one does not need conspiracy theories to explain why the idea
has not got anywhere, nor why newly legitimate governments have accepted
responsibility for servicing the potentially odious debts they inherited.
Assume
Anarchy? Why an orthodox economic model may not be the best guide for policy
Raghuram Rajan suggests that a better starting point for analysis than a
world with only minor blemishes may be a world where nothing is enforceable and
property and individual rights are totally insecure.
Why
Are Structural Reforms So Difficult?
Raghuram Rajan explains
that reforms are hard to sell because their benefits aren't always as obvious
as their short-term costs. Success, he says, depends on timing, the sequence of
reforms, and the compensation of "losers."
How
Useful Are Clever Solutions?
In his first Straight
Talk column, Raghuram Rajan, the IMF's new Economic
Counsellor and Research Department Director, warns
that "clever" solutions to economic problems aren't always truly
useful.