Catherine Pattillo

The Challenge of Predicting Economic Crises

The integration of financial markets around the world over the past decade has posed new challenges for policymakers. The speed with which money can b...

The Monetary Geography of Africa

Africa is working toward the goal of creating a common currency that would serve as a symbol of African unity. The advantages of a common currency inc...

Terms of Trade Shocks in Africa - Are They Short-Lived Or Long-Lived?

A country's terms of trade is one of the most important relative prices in economics, yet economists are largely ignorant of many of its empirical pro...

Measuring the Effect of Foreign Aidon Growth and Poverty Reduction Or the Pitfalls of Interaction Variables

Regressions in a number of recent papers written by staff members of the World Bank and the IMF rely on an interaction variable (IAV) to establish the...

Financing the Response to Climate Change

This note outlines a scheme for mobilizing financing to help developing countries confront the challenges posed by climate change. The idea is to crea...

Monetary Union in West Africa: who Might Gain, who Might Lose, and Why?

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Is the Glass Half Empty Or Half Full?

Issues in Managing Water Challenges and Policy Instruments

This paper examines water challenges, a growing global concern with adverse economic and social consequences, and discusses economic policy instrument...

Export Orientation and Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Exchange Rate Policy and the Management of Official and Private Capital Flows in Africa

We focus on the management of highly persistent shocks to aid flows, including PRSP-related increases in net inflows, in three “post-stabilization.�...