This book sets forth both a theory and a comparative empirical analysis of stagflation, that peculiar combination of high unemployment, slow growth, and spurts of high inflation bedeviling the advanced industrial nations during the past fifteen years.

The authors first construct a small macroeconomic model that takes full account of aggregate demand and supply forces in the determination of output, employment, and the price level, in both a single-economy and a multi-economy setting. They then apply the model to provide an understanding of comparative performance of industrial countries in the areas of unemployment, inflation, productivity, and investment growth. They argue convincingly that the decay of the major economies during this period resulted from the supply shocks of the 1970s, such as the two major OPEC oil-price increases, and from the consequent policy-induced decrease in demand in response to inflationary pressures. Their analysis differs markedly from similar studies in that it takes specific account of institutional differences in the labor markets of the various economies. This helps to explain in particular the divergent adjustment profiles of the United States and Europe.

Bruno and Sachs make several key recommendations for the mix of demand management and incomes policies necessary to combat stagflation in individual countries as well as for the coordination of macroeconomic policies among the major industrial nations.

As the United States devotes extensive resources to health care, evaluating how successfully the U.S. system delivers high-quality, high-value care in an equitable manner is essential. At the request of Congress, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) annually produces the National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) and the National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR). The reports have revealed areas in which health care performance has improved over time, but they also have identified major shortcomings. After five years of producing the NHQR and NHDR, AHRQ asked the IOM for guidance on how to improve the next generation of reports. The IOM concludes that the NHQR and NHDR can be improved in ways that would make them more influential in promoting change in the health care system. In addition to being sources of data on past trends, the national healthcare reports can provide more detailed insights into current performance, establish the value of closing gaps in quality and equity, and project the time required to bridge those gaps at the current pace of improvement. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Re-Envisioning the NHQR and NHDR 3 Updating the Framework for the NHQR and NHDR 4 Adopting a More Quantitative and Transparent Measure Selection Process 5 Enhancing Data Resources 6 Improving Presentation of Information 7 Implementing Recommended Changes Acronyms Appendix A: Previous IOM Recommendations for the National Healthcare Reports Appendix B: Key Findings of the NHQRs and NHDRs Appendix C: Previous Conceptual Framework Appendix D: Measurement Opportunities for the Framework's Components of Quality Care Appendix E: HHS Interagency Workgroup for the NHQR and NHDR Appendix F: The Expected Population Value of Quality Indicator Reporting (EPV-QIR): A Framework for Prioritizing Healthcare Performance Measurement Appendix G: IOM Subcommittee on Standardized Collection of Race/Ethnicity Data for Healthcare Quality Improvement: Recommendations Appendix H: Additional Assessments of Data Presentation in the NHQR and NHDR Appendix I: An Illustrative Funding Example Appendix J: Committee Member and Staff Biographies

This book considers the phenomenon of the high inflation and negative growth experience processes of the 1970s and 1980. It draws substantially on Bruno's experience in Israel, but also ranges through the past and present experience in Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico) and considers the more recent experience of East European economies. The author looks into the common characteristics of such experiences and their possible curesDSwith some emphasis on the lessons of the Israeli experience in respect of the role of incomes policy and the political economy of stabilization.

The discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of stabilization programmes provides an opportunity to blend of a number of disciplines: lessons of economic history, open economy monetary and macro theory, game-theoretic applications to the theory of economic policy design (concepts such as dynamic inconsistency, government reputation, and credibility), and the rationalization of incomes policy.