Magnus Blomström

Mats Lundahl

While the pitiful images of famine victims generally emanate from the very poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the entire region faces an intense economic crisis. Why is this area in a state of near-permanent crisis and perhaps more importantly, what can be done about it? In Economic Crisis in Africa the authors use country studies to examine how this situation has come about. The book is divided into four parts: Part I presents an overall perspective of the African Crisis and its management; Part II addresses the problems of the external sector; Part III discusses the crises and structural adjustment from a microperspective; and finally, Part IV examines changes in economic systems which took place during the 1980s. At a time when famine again threatens the area, this work offers a valuable insight into a highly complex and critical situation.

Perspectives on Policy Responses

Economic Crisis in Africa

Sumner La Croix

This is a new analysis of recent changes in important Japanese institutions. It addresses the origin, development, and recent adaptation of core institutions, including financial institutions, corporate governance, lifetime employment, and the amakudari system. After four decades of rapid economic growth in Japan, the 1990s saw the country enter a prolonged period of economic stagnation. Policy reforms were initially half-hearted, and businesses were slow to restructure as the global economy changed. The lagging economy has been impervious to aggressive fiscal stimulus measures and has been plagued by ongoing price deflation for years. Japan’s struggle has called into question the ability of the country’s economic institutions, originally designed to support factor accumulation and rapid development, to adapt to the new economic environment of the twenty-first century. This book discusses both historical and international comparisons including Meiji Japan, and recent economic and financial reforms in Korea, Scandinavia, Switzerland, and New Zealand, placing the current institutional changes in perspective. The contributors argue that, contrary to conventional wisdom that Japanese institutions have remained relatively rigid, there has been significant institutional change over the last decade.

Magnus Blomström

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