Economic research on fiscal policy has shown that while developed economies tend to run countercyclical fiscal policies Latin American countries have been characterized by procyclical policies. One of the explanations given to this phenomenon is that high external debt causes severe constraints on the ...

Globalization has changed the way countries interact along several dimensions. Financial integration and its underpinnings are probably among the most important. Although cross-border capital flows and external debt have been closely monitored, until recently little was known about the stocks of foreign ...