Post-crisis Fiscal Policy

Post-crisis Fiscal Policy gives a much-needed, and seminal, analysis of the fiscal problems in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. It describes countries' response to these problems, draws important lessons from the crisis, and provides a thoughtful discussion of the daunting challenges ahead for the global economy.

George Akerlof, Professor of Economics, University of California at Berkeley; Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2001

This book is an impressive collection of insightful and well-researched papers by IMF experts covering a wide range of important fiscal policy issues and drawing key lessons from the global economic and financial crisis. Post-crisis Fiscal Policy offers a unique perspective on the evolving role of fiscal policy that is enlightened by the collective experience of the IMF's universal membership. While rigorous in its approach, the book is written for a wide audience. This timely book is a must-read for anyone interested in fiscal policy and the daunting economic challenges lying ahead.

Alan J. Auerbach, Professor of Economics and Director of the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance, University of California, Berkeley

This book is an impressive collection of insightful and well-researched papers by IMF experts covering a wide range of important fiscal policy issues and drawing key lessons from the global economic and financial crisis. Post-crisis Fiscal Policy offers a unique perspective on the evolving role of fiscal policy that is enlightened by the collective experience of the IMF's universal membership. While rigorous in its approach, the book is written for a wide audience. This timely book is a must-read for anyone interested in fiscal policy and the daunting economic challenges lying ahead.

Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy

The global financial crisis ushered in a new age for fiscal policy. After decades of neglect as a tool of stabilization policy, it was suddenly called upon to play a central role. This remarkable volume examines the design, measurement, and implementation of fiscal policy, blending insightful commentary of general principles with detailed analyses of individual nations. Lessons will be learned from this crisis for decades to come, and these collected essays will be an invaluable resource for researchers and policy makers alike.

James Poterba, Mitsui Professor of Economics, MIT; President, National Bureau of Economic Research

This timely book pulls together an impressive array of evidence about how fiscal policies—the ways governments systematically set taxes, transfers, and expenditures, and how they pay or reschedule their debts—were influenced by the recent worldwide financial crisis and how those policies in turn affected the severity with which the crisis impacted different countries and groups of people. The evidence cited in this book and the way it is organized teaches many important lessons about what happened and how to avoid past mistakes.

Thomas Sargent, Professor of Economics at New York University; Recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economics