The Macroeconomics of Developing Countries: An Intermediate Textbook

The book focuses on the short- and long-term macroeconomic challenges faced by developing countries characterized by missing, incomplete, and dualistic markets and weak institutions. Such problems affect long-term growth, short-term macroeconomic equilibrium, employment, and inequality far more than in the advanced economies. A central message of the book is that ignoring these features and applying to developing countries models inspired by the reality of advanced economies may lead to wrong conclusions and policies. These challenges are discussed for a number of archetypes of developing economies dependent on land and natural resources, affected by supply rigidities in agriculture, and featuring dualistic markets, a dominant informal sector, fast population growth, and chronic dependence on the export of commodities and a volatile external finance. Finally, the book discusses the impact on growth, inequality, and poverty of the stabilization and structural adjustment reforms that were increasingly implemented during the last thirty years. These issues have taken centre stage since the launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiatives that have not spelled out a clear macroeconomic approach. There is a risk, therefore, that the wrong policies and sudden shocks may derail progress towards the SDGs which might be achieved by means of social policies.