International investors poured vast sums of money into East Asian and Latin American countries during the mid-1990s, when the emerging market boom was at its peak. Then Thailand stumbled and panic seized the markets, and boom gave way to bust. Investors suffered large financial losses, while Asian countries suddenly experienced large capital outflows and the macroeconomic pressures these wrought plunged countries that had been growing rapidly ("miraculously") into crisis. Much the same had happened in Latin America when the debt crisis broke in 1982. This book investigates what can be done to make the international capital market a constructive force in promoting development in emerging markets. John Williamson concludes that the problem of cyclicality that has undermined the value of international borrowing cannot be tackled just, or even mainly, from the supply side, but will require actions on the part of both creditors and debtors.

This book analyzes the new trends in capital flows to emerging markets since the Asian crisis, their determinants and policy implications. It explains why such flows have declined so dramatically in recent years, emphasising both structural and cyclical factors. Senior bankers, regulators, and well-known academics explain the behaviour of different players. The book breaks new ground by showing in detail how such behaviour has contributed to the decline of flows and their volatility. The book suggests what coping mechanisms developing countries could adopt to deal with crisis situations; what measures should be taken at the national and international levels to make recipient countries less vulnerable to international financial instability; how such instability can be reduced; and what can be done on the source countries to encourage larger more stable capital flows to developing countries.

Over the course of five decades, John Williamson has published an extraordinary number of books, articles, and other pieces on topics ranging from international monetary economics to development policy and bridging scholarly literature and policy debates. This book provides an overview and insight into Williamson's work. It includes contributions from the editors, Stanley Fischer, Edwin M. Truman, Paul De Grauwe, Yuemei Ji, Marcus Miller, Avinash Persaud, Stephany Griffith-Jones, Dagmar Hertova, Olivier Jeanne, Shankar Acharya, Jose Antonio Ocampo, and an essay by John Williamson on designing economic policy.

There is growing dissatisfaction with the economic policies advocated by the IMF and other international financial institutions - policies that have often resulted in stagnating growth, crises, and recessions for client countries. This book presents an alternative to "Washington Consensus" neo-liberal economic policies by showing that both macro-economic and liberalization policy must be sensitive to the particular circumstances of developing countries. One-size-fits-all policy prescriptions are likely to fail given the vast differences between countries. This book discusses how alternative approaches to economic policy can better serve developing countries both in ordinary times and in times of crisis.

Provides a comprehensive analysis of why reforms in Latin America have failed in achieving growth and equity. The book focuses on three strategic areas of reforms of the Washington Consensus: Macroeconomics, Trade and Finance.