Trade, Exchange Rate, and Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

'Jean-Paul Azam provides a refreshingly different and credible approach to analysing macroeconomic policy outcomes, one in which the roles of individuals and institutions receive serious attention in explaining policy outcomes. He shows that case studies can be a powerful tool for making rigorous analysis interesting. The discussions of currency convertibility, exchange rates, inflation, public debt, currency crises, growth, poverty, human capital, ethnicity and the politics of redistribution are all done in relation to the actions or inactions of clearly identifiable economic agents in countries that the author has, sometimes, personally observed. This is certainly a most welcome contribution to the analysis of African economies.' Ernest Aryeetey, Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana
'Very few command the substance and technique of modern economics and a deep knowledge of the developing world. Jean-Paul Azam is one of them. While other development economists may preach, Azam teaches. He instructs economists about Africa and scholars in Africa about economics. A wonderful book!' Robert H. Bates, Eaton Professor of the Science of Government, Harvard University
'Jean-Paul Azam is one of the most creative development economists working today. This book is a joy to read: it addresses a set of well-known macro policy puzzles and consistently delivers new insights that are both unconventional and convincing. The net effect is to expose the simple mindset that international financial institutions brought to the trade and macroeconomic policy reform debates of the 1980s and 1990s, and that still lies at the core of contemporary policy analysis. He does this not by adopting different analytical methods, but by accommodating the structural realities of African economies, including the dominance of the informal sector. This is applied macroeconomics at its best. The book should be required reading for all development macroeconomists and Africa specialists. It will be an excellent classroom resource for upper-level and graduate students in development economics.' Stephen A. O'Connell, Professor of Economics, Swarthmore College