Macroeconomics

Information economics represents a fundamental change in the prevailing paradigm within economics. The argument of Adam Smith (1776) that free markets lead to efficient outcomes has played a central role in these debates: It suggested that we could, by and large, rely on markets without government intervention (or, at most, with a limited role for the government). The set of ideas that I will present here undermined Adam Smith's theory and the view of the role of government that rested on it.

The seemingly quick global recovery from the Asian financial crisis and its limited effect on industrial countries produced far less sould searching about capitalism's basic principles than the Great Depression. The author argues that the global economic arrangements were inadequate in both instances and that the IMF requires serious reform to ensure a more stable global economic environment.

This study identifies the main factors that explain the recovery of the Mexican economy after the currency crisis of 1995. A growth decomposition exercise shows that export growth mitigated somewhat the effect of the crisis in 1995, but contributed only modestly to the recovery afterwards. The V-shaped behavior of fixed investment was the main factor behind the economic slowdown during the crisis and the strength of the subsequent recovery.

Amnesty International has long been an effective champion of free speech. Amartya Sen, the winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, has argued that famines do not occur in societies in which there is a free press. In this lecture, I want to set forth the case for greater openness and transparency in government.

Economists seeking explanations for the global financial crisis of 1997-99 are reaching consensus that a major factor was weak financial institutions, which resulted in part from inadequate government regulations. At the same time many developing countries are struggling with an overregulated financial system - one that stifles innovation and the flow of credit to new entrepreneurs and that can stunt the growth of well-established firms. In particular, too many countries are relying excessively on capital adequacy standards, which are inefficient and sometimes counterproductive.

Averting the Old Age Crisis, the World Bank's path-breaking publication on pensions, trenchantly notes that "myths abound in discussions of old age security." This paper examines ten such myths in a deliberately provocative manner. Our hope is not only to spur debate during this "New Ideas About Old Age Security" conference, but more broadly to ensure that policy-makers understand the complexity of pension reform. It is testimony to the power of Averting the Old Age Crisis that many of today's myths at least partially emanate from that report's unmasking of yesterday's.

In the field of economics, perhaps the most important break with the past - one that leaves open huge areas for future work - lies in the economics of information. It is now recognized that information is imperfect, obtaining information can be costly, there are important asymmetries of information, and the extent of information asymmetries is affected by actions of firms and individuals.

From the publisher: From the "guru to Wall Street's gurus" comes the fundamental techniques of value investing and their applications. Bruce Greenwald is one of the leading authorities on value investing. Some of the savviest people on Wall Street have taken his Columbia Business School course on the subject. Now this dynamic and popular teacher, with some colleagues, reveals the fundamental principles of value investing, the one investment technique that has proven itself consistently over time.

The author argues that the Washington consensus is too narrow in its objectives - in its focus on GDP - and in what it sees as the instruments of development, the improvement of resource allocation, through trade liberalization, privatization and stabilization, that development needs to be seen as a transformation of society, a change in mindsets, and that workers and workers' institutions have to be at the center of the development process.