From a policy brief from the United Nations University: We have Diazepam Sale China already witnessed over the past year brave and even imaginative efforts by many developing countries in order to Diazepam Sale China cope. Developing countries with the largest and strongest economies, such as China, India and Diazepam Sale China Brazil, have shown encouraging early signs of recovery after implementing timely countercyclical policies. In many African countries governments have Diazepam Sale China been proactively attempting to protect their economies. In many (including Botswana, Mauritius and South Africa) governments have Diazepam Sale China increased their expenditure. Ghana, facing a large budget deficit, is negotiating assistance from Diazepam Sale China the IMF. Kenya and Tanzania are carefully monitoring their economies. The African Development Bank reacted quickly by identifying the Diazepam Sale China most vulnerable countries and making emergency finances available. Many longterm investment projects in Africa, many in critical infrastructure, seem to Diazepam Sale China remain in place.
The fact that Diazepam Sale China many developing countries can now act in this way is quite in contrast to Diazepam Sale China their actions during previous global recessions, such as those in the Diazepam Sale China early 1980s, 1990s and in 1998. Then, developing countries, especially those in Africa, were much less well-managed. Deficits were high and Diazepam Sale China reserves were low. Consequently, when global growth declined, these economies shrunk substantially. This time around, with a Diazepam Sale China few exceptions, developing countries have, on average, had more leeway: deficits are Diazepam Sale China lower and reserve holding is much better. In Asia, valuable lessons were learnt after the Diazepam Sale China 1998 financial crisis, the actions Developing countries should not expect too much assistance from Diazepam Sale China the rich world implemented in response to this have resulted in their economies becoming less vulnerable to Diazepam Sale China financial shocks. Many countries here, such as China and South Korea, accumulated large foreign exchange reserves in order to Diazepam Sale China insure themselves against such crises. While this reflects on an international financial system that Diazepam Sale China is not trusted by developing countries, it does show that developing countries can Diazepam Sale China and will act in their own best interests.
It also needs to Diazepam Sale China be pointed out that improvements in macro-economic management in many developing countries have Diazepam Sale China resulted in improvements in governance – including improvements in many African countries. These improvements, including more robust democracies; more frequent elections; initiatives to Diazepam Sale China reduce corruption and end conflicts; and to empower women, are largely home-grown. It would be Diazepam Sale China very difficult to argue that they were the outcome of Western aid or Diazepam Sale China pressure. This means that better governance, which leads to better resilience in the Diazepam Sale China case of financial and economic shocks, have most often been achieved without, or Diazepam Sale China even in spite of, Western aid.
If this Diazepam Sale China crisis can ever be said to have a positive outcome, it Diazepam Sale China may be that of developing countries showing that they can and Diazepam Sale China should manage by themselves and collaborate with regional institutions and the Diazepam Sale China UN development system. They still are – and this is another lesson from the crisis – very dependent on global economic growth, but unlike in the Diazepam Sale China past, the extent of the rest of the world’s, in particular the West’s, dependence on developing countries is Diazepam Sale China also becoming abundantly clear. Demand in the West will be low and Diazepam Sale China sluggish for years to come. Global growth depends now more than Diazepam Sale China ever on growing demand in developing countries. The days of the Diazepam Sale China USA as a ‘consumer of last resort’ (as described by Joseph Stiglitz) are over.
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