David Lindauer and Joseph Joyce Publish in November

Joseph P. Joyce, professor of economics and faculty director of the Madeleine K. Albright Institute for Global Affairs, has authored a timely, new book that closely examines the International Monetary Fund’s response to the 2008-2009 financial crisis—which marked a sea change from the IMF’s past policies. Meanwhile David Lindauer, Stanford Calderwood Professor of Economics and chairman of Center for Global Development (CGD) Advisory Group, has recently completed the 7th edition of his seminal text book The Economics of Development.

Wellesley's strength in macroeconomics and international economics is well known; these concurrent faculty publications illustrate the fact with impressive scope.

Published in November 2012 by the Cambridge University Press, The IMF and Global Financial Crises: Phoenix Rising? traces the evolution of the IMF’s actions to promote global financial stability from its founding to recent events. The book provides both an in-depth history and compelling analysis of the IMF's activities during some of the world’s major financial crises: the debt crisis of the 1980s; upheavals in emerging market nations in the 1990s and early 2000s; and the European debt crisis.

Joyce’s book, which has won advance praise from leading economists, is an important text at a time when economies around the world are in upheaval, marked by the U.S. fiscal cliff and the Eurozone crisis.

In a piece published on the economics blog Econbrowser, Joyce described the latest challenges and reputational risks facing the IMF, particularly given the gridlock in Europe. He writes, “The Fund is caught in the crossfire among Eurozone governments and their citizenries over how to deal with members in financial distress. The IMF is rightly concerned that it will lose its newly-won credibility if it approves plans that are unrealistic. Meanwhile, the slow pace of implementation of quota reform perpetuates the image of the IMF as an organization under the control of the U.S. and European nations.”

In a dynamic revision of the most modern development economics textbook, published in November by W.W. Norton & Co., David Lindauer's classic text has been aggressively revised to incorporate the latest research defining the field of development economics today.

Lindauer’s area of expertise is in labor economics. His research and policy advising has included work on industrial relations, labor costs and export potential, minimum wages, poverty and unemployment, public sector pay and employment, and racial affirmative action. He has worked on labor market issues in East and Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere. 

Lindauer was recently a panelist at a CDG panel discussion, “Development Education in U.S. Universities: What’s New and What’s Missing.” Fellow panelists included Carol Lancaster, dean of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and Franke Wiebe, faculty director for the Master of Development Policy Program at Georgetown. Lindauer noted that three of his former students were in the audience of about 100 at the event in Washington, D.C. International development is a natural avenue for Wellesley economics majors to pursue, given Wellesley's global engagement, its many international students, and its graduates' legacy and passion for service and problem solving.