This book draws together the seminal contributions to the literature on the nature of macroeconomics in open economies and illuminates the material. This is an essential guide to the subject for students.

In this book David Currie and Paul Levine address a broad range of issues concerning the design and conduct of macroeconomic policy in open economies. Adopting neo-Keynesian models for which monetary and fiscal policy have short-term real effects, they analyse active stabilisation policies in both a single- and multi-country context. Questions addressed include: the merits of simple policy rules, policy design in the face of uncertainty and international policy coordination. A central feature of the book is the treatment of credibility and the effect of a policy-maker's reputation for sticking to announced policies. These considerations are integrated with coordination issues to produce a unique synthesis. The volume develops optimal control methods and dynamic game theory to handle relationships between governments and a conscious rational private sector and produces a unified, coherent approach to the subject. This book will be of interest to students and teachers of open economy macroeconomics and to professional economists interested in using macroeconomic models to design policy.

International Finance is an established and internationally renowned introduction to the subject. It draws on recent events to provide comprehensive coverage of traditional theories and new research relating to the balance of payments, exchange rate determination and the international monetary system.

This volume contains the proceedings of a September 1987 conference and focuses on the North-South macroeconomic interactions.

It has been argued that “buy-backs” and “debt-equity swaps” allow developing countries to benefit from market discounts on their external debt. It is argued here, however, that if such programs are expected to be successful in increasing the market value of remaining debt, they also lead to a roughly equivalent increase in prices at which a buy-back or debt-equity swap could be carried out.