Economic Policy: Theory and Practice

Agnès Bénassy-Quéré · Benoît Coeuré · Pierre Jacquet · Jean Pisani-Ferry

set. de 2010 · Oxford University Press

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Written by four recognized experts with senior experience in research and government, this text is the first comprehensive survival kit for students and practitioners of economic policy. It is set to become an indispensable resource for everyone involved or interested in modern economic policy. Academic scholars willing to engage in policy discussions and students at graduate or advanced undergraduate levels will find it an essential bridge to the policy world. What makes the book unique is that it combines like no other, facts-based analysis, state-of-the art theories and models, and insights from first-hand policy experience at national and international levels. The book has grown out of ten years of experience teaching economic policy at the graduate level. It provides an intellectually coherent framework to understand the potentialities and limits of economic policy. It addresses positive dimensions (how do policies impact on modern economies?), normative dimensions (what should policymakers aim to achieve and against what should their action be judged?) and political-economy constraints (which are the limits and obstacles to public intervention?). It fills an important gap by reconciling in each major policy area stylized facts of recent economic history, key questions faced by contemporary policymakers, and essential lessons from theory which are captured and explained in a clear, concise, and self-contained way. All major areas of domestic and international policymaking are covered: fiscal policy, monetary policy, international finance and exchange-rate policy, tax policy, and long-term growth policies. The book concludes with a special chapter on the lessons of the financial crisis. The authors are intellectually non-partisan and they draw examples from various countries and experiences; from emerging markets to developing economies, shedding light when necessary on local specificities such as European Union rules and instruments. Economic Policy: Theory and Practice is the essential guide to economic policy in the new post-crisis context.

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Agnès Bénassy-Quéré is the Director of the CEPII, the French leading research institute in international economics, and a Professor at University Paris-Ouest (on leave). She is a member of France's Commission Economique de la Nation and also teaches at Ecole Polytechnique. Her research interests focus on the international monetary system and European macroeconomic policy. Benoit Coeuré teaches international economics and economic policy at École polytechnique in Paris. He has served in various official positions in the French government including as the CEO of France's debt management office, Agence France Trésor and as France's deputy deputy to the G-7 and G-20. He has also been the co-President of the Paris Club. Benoît Coeuré has authored articles and books on economic policy, the international monetary system and the economics of European integration. Since January 2002, Pierre Jacquet has been executive director (in charge of strategy) and chief economist at the French Development Agency (AFD). He was formerly deputy director of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) and chief editor of IFRI's quarterly review Politique Etrangère. He is professor of international economics and chairman of the department of economics and finance at the Ecole des Ponts-ParisTech and a guest professor in executive programs at the French business school INSEAD. His fields of interest include globalization, international monetary and financial issues, trade policies and negotiations, economic policy and development. Jean Pisani-Ferry is the Director of Bruegel, the Brussels-based economic think tank, and a professor of economics with Université Paris-Dauphine. He has had a career in research and policy, both in France and at European level. He has been Executive President of the French PM's Council of Economic Analysis, Senior Economic Adviser to the French Minister of Finance, Director of CEPII, the French institute for international economics, and Economic Adviser with the European Commission. He has a regular column in Le Monde and Handelsblatt.