Stanley Fischer served as First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 1994 to 2001. IMF Essays from a Time of Crisis collects sixteen essays written for the most part during his time at the IMF, each updated with Fischer’s later reflections on the issues raised. The IMF drew much criticism for some of its actions during Fischer’s tenure, and he vigorously defends the “battlefield medicine” practiced by the IMF during a series of economic crises, which included the problems of economic transition in the former Soviet bloc and the Asian financial crisis. Fischer addresses the subsequent calls for reform of the international financial system and makes the case for the IMF as an international lender of last resort.

The first section of essays, “The Role of the IMF and the Reform of the International Financial System,” considers the IMF’s role in the international financial system in light of the crises of the 1990s. The second section, “Macroeconomic Policy, Stabilization, and Transition,” examines such topics as exchange rate regimes, inflation, and Eastern Europe’s relation to the European Union. The final section, “Poverty and Development,” reflects Fischer’s basic belief that economic policies should explicitly target poverty reduction. These engaging and accessible essays will appeal not only to economics students, economists, and policymakers but also to the general reader interested in the international monetary system.

Review:
Insightful!

This lucid, plain, straightforward book is not necessarily the sort of thing one expects from an economist, yet author Stanley Fischer is one of our era’s greatest economists. His work at the International Monetary Fund put him on the front lines during some of the twentieth century’s most serious economic crises and panics. He has a unique and valuable perspective. His timely discussion of the IMF and the World Bank provides a sobering antidote to the rhetoric of both globalization and anti-globalization. Fischer reminds us that the IMF’s many glaring failures and imperfections are the stumbles and flaws of an organization that has done good work to further a noble purpose. It also has proven willing and able to change when the facts do. For good reason, Fischer’s essays sometimes read like the arguments of a defense attorney countering prosecutorial accusations. The IMF has come in for so much criticism in recent years that it is refreshing to discover so many points in its favor, and we find it both fair and prudent to consider them carefully.