1st Edition

Monetarism, Economic Crisis and the Third World

By Karel Jansen Copyright 1983

    First Published in 1983. This book is a contribution to the debate about Monetarism as an economic policy, and whether and how Monetarist policies can contribute to solving the current economic crisis. The diverse backgrounds and opinions of the distinguished economists writing in this volume, some supportive and some critical of Monetarism, ensure a variety of interpretations of the causes of, and responses to, the crisis. Overall, however, the book lays emphasis on two related factors which are frequently neglected in the current debates. Firstly, that the current economic crisis is a world crisis which is felt concomitantly, though in different forms and with different intensities, in the industrial countries, in the countries of the socialist bloc, and in the Third World. And although its manifestations in the industrial and in the developing countries have been quite different, the proposed policy answer has been fairly homogeneously Monetarist. Secondly, the message occurs throughout the book that in today's highly integrated world economy, national economic policies have lost much of their autonomy; Monetarist policies should therefore be assessed as to their consistency with external conditions and their effects on other countries. The contributors analyse the manifestations of the economic crisis in various parts of the world and give their individual views on Monetarist policies. Obviously there is no agreement, but that is not the purpose of this volume: its aim is to place the Monetarism discussion in the international context in which it should be conducted.

    Chapter 1 Monetarism, Economic Crisis and the Third World: An Introduction, Karel Jansen; Chapter 2 The Origins and Evolution of Monetarism, Robert Mundell; Chapter 3 What is Wrong with Monetarism?, Francis Cripps; Chapter 4 Monetarism: Is the Debate Closed?, Arnold Heertje; Chapter 5 World Crisis and the Monetarist Answer, Ernest Mandel; Chapter 6 Monetarism and the State Socialist World, Michael Ellman; Chapter 7 Structuralism vs Monetarism in Latin America: A Reappraisal of a Great Debate, with Lessons for Europe in the 1980s, Dudley Seers; Chapter 8 The IMF Prescription for Structural Adjustment in Tanzania: A Comment, Brian Van Arkadie; Chapter 9 International Keynesianism – A Solution to the World Crisis?, Lal Jayawardena; Chapter 10 Monetarist Policies on a World Scale, Jacques Polak;

    Biography

    Karel Jansen Institute of Social Studies, The Hague