Institutions and Macroeconomic Policies in Resource-Rich Arab Economies: Book Launch and Panel Discussion

FromSep 23, 2019 To Sep 23, 2019

Georgetown University-Center for Contemporary Arab Studies

Institutions and Macroeconomic Policies in Resource-Rich Arab Economies: Book Launch and Panel Discussion

A launch of the volume, Institutions and Macroeconomic Policies in Resource-Rich Arab Economies, featuring political economy experts on the Arab World to discuss how for over eighty years the Arab region has been deriving massive wealth from its natural resources. Nevertheless, its economic performance has been at the mercy of ebbs and flows of oil prices and its resources have been slowly depleting.

Featuring

Joseph Sassoon (Discussion Chair) Professor, School of Foreign Service and History Department, Georgetown University

Ibrahim Elbadawi (Contributing Author) Minister of Finance and Economy, Republic of Sudan (joining via video call)

Shanta Devarajan (Contributing Author) Professor, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Hoda Selim (Volume Co-editor) Research Fellow, Economic Research Forum

Nada Eissa (Discussant) Associate Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

Venue: Georgetown University-Center for Contemporary Arab Studies

Event Date: Monday 23 September, 2019

Time: 12:00pm – 02:00pm

 

About the Book
For over eighty years the Arab region has been deriving massive wealth from its natural resources. Nevertheless, its economic performance has been at the mercy of ebbs and flows of oil prices and its resources have been slowly depleting. The two critical questions are why and how Arab countries might escape the oil curse.

Institutions and Macroeconomic Policies in Resource-Rich Arab Economies focuses on the unique features of the Arab world to explain the disappointing outcomes of macroeconomic policy. It explores the interaction between oil and institutions to draw policy recommendations on how Arab countries can best exploit their oil revenues to avoid the resource curse. Case studies and contributions from experts provide an understanding of macroeconomic institutions (including their underlying rules, procedures and institutional arrangements) in oil-rich Arab economies and of their political economy environment, which has largely been overlooked in previous research.

Institutions and Macroeconomic Policies in Resource-Rich Arab Economies offers novel macroeconomic policy propositions for exchange rate regimes, fiscal policy and oil wealth distribution that is more consistent with macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability. These policy reforms, if implemented successfully, could go a long way in helping the resource-rich countries of the Arab region and elsewhere to avoid the oil curse.

Link to event details.