Publisher's Synopsis
The past decade has been disastrous for Africa. Different solutions have been proposed for this crisis, but the stabilization and structural adjustment packages of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have had the greatest influence. Characteristically these packages are designed to diminish the role of the state and enhance that of the market but a whole range of strategies have been pursued to achieve these ends. On different occasions demand or supply side measures have been favoured and policies have been adopted with a view to the short, middle or long term. Given that much of the literature in this area is descriptive and orientated around case studies it is difficult to disentangle the key features of the debate. "Stabilization and Structural Adjustment" offers clarification by looking beyond individual programmes to assess the relevance of the macroeconomic theory and models that underlie them. It begins by examining the peculiar weaknesses of the African economies and the issues of macroeconomic management they create before proceeding to outline the different frameworks within which stabilization and structural adjustment packages can be analyzed.
