Abstract
The December 2015 IMF Research Bulletin features a sampling of key research from the IMF. The Research Summaries in this issue look at 'The Impact of Deflation and Lowflation on Fiscal Aggregates (Nicolas End, Sampawende J.-A. Tapsoba, Gilbert Terrier, and Renaud Duplay); and 'Oil Exporters at the Crossroads: It Is High Time to Diversify' (Reda Cherif and Fuad Hasanov). Mahvash Saeed Qureshi provides an overview of the fifth Lindau Meeting in Economics in 'Meeting the Nobel Giants.' In the Q&A column on 'Seven Questions on Financial Frictions and the Sources of the Business Cycle, Marzie Taheri Sanjani looks at the driving forces of the business cycle and macroeconomic models. The top-viewed articles in 2014 from the IMF Economic Review are highlighted, along with recent IMF Working Papers, Staff Discussion Notes, and IMF publications.
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A Guide to IMF Stress Testing: Methods and Models
Li Lian Ong
The global financial crisis has put the spotlight firmly on the stress testing of financial systems. This comprehensive handbook pulls together, for the first time, the applied stress testing methods and models developed by IMF staff, some in collaboration with colleagues from other organizations. To guide users, each chapter offers a summary describing the application of a method or model, its strengths and weaknesses, and the data requirements. Where available, the associated stress test toolkits and program codes are also provided for wider public use.
2014. 632pp. ISBN 978-1-448436-858-9. $65
Latin America: New Challenges to Growth and Stability
Dora Iakova, Luis M. Cubeddu, Gustavo Adler, and Sebastian Sosa
There are many questions at the heart of the economic policy debate on Latin America. Can the countries in the region return to high rates of economic growth in the medium term? How vulnerable are the region’s commodity exporters to a sustained decline of commodity prices? Is the region well prepared to deal with new global financial shocks and increased capital flow volatility? The authors of this book argue that Latin America can rise to the new challenges and return to robust growth, with reforms aimed at improving education outcomes, closing infrastructure gaps, and raising productivity growth.
2015 Approx. 250 pp. ISBN 978-1-498832-812-6. $25
The East African Community: Quest for Regional Integration
Paulo Drummond, S. K. Wajid, and Oral Williams
Key developments in the integration process of the East African Community (EAC) are described in this book. It also sketches an agenda for reforms that may be expected to foster further integration. Although various factors determine the degree of integration, the book focuses on the macroeconomic and financial aspects of integration. Chapters also look at fiscal and monetary policy interactions, impending monetary union, exchange rate management and arrangements, and requirements for financial stability.
© 2014 Approx. 276 pages ISBN 978-1-48436-441-3. $35
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