Controlling inflation is among the most important objectives of economic policy. By maintaining price stability, policy makers are able to reduce uncertainty, improve price-monitoring mechanisms, and facilitate more efficient planning and allocation of resources, thereby raising productivity. This volume focuses on understanding the causes of the Great Inflation of the 1970s and ’80s, which saw rising inflation in many nations, and which propelled interest rates across the developing world into the double digits. In the decades since, the immediate cause of the period’s rise in inflation has been the subject of considerable debate. Among the areas of contention are the role of monetary policy in driving inflation and the implications this had both for policy design and for evaluating the performance of those who set the policy. Here, contributors map monetary policy from the 1960s to the present, shedding light on the ways in which the lessons of the Great Inflation were absorbed and applied to today’s global and increasingly complex economic environment.

A guide to the experiences economic reform since the second world war, and system reform and economic integration across the world in the past decade. The first part of the book examines why only a small number of developing countries have succeeded in their modernization attempts this century. What lessons can be learnt from the successes of the East Asian NIEs and failures of other economies to emulate them? The very different experiences of the transition to market economies in the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe and China is the focus of the next section, with comparisons drawn with the Latin American reform experience, especially in Chile. The effects of economic integration schemes are examined in the final sector, with case-studies of Tunisia and Morocco's Free Trade Agreements with the EU, and of economic integration and the Arab-Israeli peace process.

A guide to the experiences of economic reform since the second World War, and system reform and economic integration across the world in the past decade. The first part of the book examines why only a small number of developing countries have succeeded in their modernization attempts this century. What lessons can be learnt from the successes of the East Asian NIEs and failures of other economies to emulate them? The very different experiences of the transition to market economies in the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe and China is the focus of the next section, with comparisons drawn with the Latin American reform experience, especially in Chile. The effects of economic integration schemes are examined in the final sector, with case-studies of Tunisia and Morocco's Free Trade Agreements with the EU, and of economic integration and the Arab-Israeli peace process.