PAUL RIVLIN, Economic Policy and Performance in the Arab World (Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner, 2001). Pp. 247. RAY BUSH, Economic Crisis and the Politics of Reform in Egypt (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1999). Pp. 195.

Abstract

From rather different perspectives Paul Rivlin and Ray Bush sound alarm bells about the economic plight of the Arab world, which may contribute to serious political instability and—after 11 September 2001—to more recruits for the Usama bin Ladens of this world. Both authors raise serious criticisms of the economic-reform programs propagated in the region by international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Rivlin is a mainstream economist from an Israeli university who is sympathetic to the latest strands of World Bank thinking, whereas Bush is a more radical skeptic from a British university who is grounded in the details of the political economy of Egyptian agriculture.