Analysis Of F. Scott Fitzgerald - 2297 Words

How would you feel if the harder you worked to accomplish your most far-fetched goals and to advance in society, the harder you would fall and the worse you would suffer at the end of your life? Many people of that era would have been confused or even surprised by the question when, in reality, that pattern was repeated over and over again during the 1920s. After the first World War concluded in 1919, new inventions and reformations were being made, which gave society newfound optimism. However, due to bad investments made by stockholders, the stock market crashed in 1929, sending America spiraling into a crippling depression for the next decade (â€Å"A Changing Society† 96). F. Scott Fitzgerald was the most notable author of the decade, and he was largely self-created. He spent the majority of his life devoted to writing, whether as a pastime, an occupation, or a way to prove his worthiness to the love of his life. His life was ultimately molded by the success-seeking templa te of the 1920s. The most famous of his works was The Great Gatsby, which brought more success, fame, and riches than he had ever encountered. Toward the end of his hedonistic life, however, Fitzgerald suffered from long spells of depression, smoked frequently, drank even more so, and wrote less and less successfully (Doreski 114). He was a true â€Å"embodiment of the age† and a prime example of the decade’s formula for success leading to failure (â€Å"The 1920s: How Normal were the 1920s?† 175). Fitzgerald’s lifeShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of F. Scott Fitzgerald953 Words   |  4 PagesF. Scott Fitzgerald was an American author who was known for his novels that generally take place during the Jazz Age after World War I. His use of similes add deeper imagery and to emphasize certain descriptions that are necessary to understand in his distinctive writing style. Fitzgerald incorporated a lot of his own personal life into his works; his struggles with alcoh olism, mental disorders and marital problems are generally thrown into almost all his novels. Many of his stories can be readRead MoreAnalysis Of F. Scott Fitzgerald3472 Words   |  14 PagesAlthough F. Scott Fitzgerald was not a muckraker, his fictional writing had similar goals to those of muckrakers—Fitzgerald fleshed out the issues that society was ignoring and conforming to. He is known as a mouthpiece of the Lost Generation, the generation or group of people that grappled with World War I and the devastating emotional aftermath that it left the world with. Fitzgerald’s writing tackles topics from difficult relationships to the journey of self-discovery. In particular, Fitzgerald madeRead MoreAnalysis Of F. Scott Fitzgerald2104 Words   |  9 Pagesthis assignment. Money, Power, and Glory For many years girls have been taught to find true love and get married and be happy. Happiness, something that can be so undetermined, is what one spends ones entire life searching for. F. Scott Fitzgerald, a poetic and romantic writer, shows his definition of happiness through every story he has written. Fitzgerald’s background starts as a hopeless romantic, winning over the heart of his wife by rewriting a novel he had previously started onRead MoreAn Analysis Of The Of The Night By F. Scott Fitzgerald Essay1488 Words   |  6 PagesIt s been a few days since Aaron and I almost had sex and I regret it. Not the almost sex, but the fact that we didn t have sex. However, I was also glad because unlike Hades, Aryan didn t force me to have sex. Not that Aryan is anything like Hades. Hades is a fucking monster and compared to him, Aryan is an angel sent from Heaven. I also remember when Aryan indirectly confessed his love for me but I think it was mostly the lust talking. I mean, we only know each other for a couple of weeks nowRead MoreAnalysis Of Merlin By F. Scott Fitzgerald913 Words   |  4 PagesMerlin, I never read this email, because I knew it was more of your lies and a total waste of time. Nevertheless, you deserve a response. Let’s see who starts problems. 1. I discussed something with you over email and then next day the professor talked to me terrified. Who told anything to the professor? Consequently, who is twisting things and creating trouble? How did she find out I had talked to you? Who approach her? 2. From my first email â€Å"she told me you had told her that he had fever inRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Of By F. Scott Fitzgerald1712 Words   |  7 PagesWaknuk is the hometown of David, Petra and Rosalind; the three had to flee their home by night when they got news of Sally and Katherine being captured. David and Petra left home and travelled down a path to the riverbank, where they met up with Rosalind. For their travel they utilized two great horses owned by Rosalind’s father to go on their journey for safety. David, Petra and Rosalind travelled in a southwesterly direction until they came to a stop in the early morning. The three started theirRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald2128 Words   |  9 PagesLiterary Analysis of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby is an incredible novel written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a prolific American author, and published by Scribner’s. Nevertheless, during its first release, the book sold poorly and received mixed reviews. In fact, Fitzgerald died in 1940 considering himself and his works a failure. However, the onset of the Second World War revived the novel, which later became an essential component of high school curricula and differentRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Salvation By F. Scott Fitzgerald1057 Words   |  5 PagesNow there aren’t many things in life that are free. It seems as if everything comes with a price. And we are justifiably skeptical of anything that advertises itself as absolutely free. So it may be difficult for us to comprehend that something as significant as God’s grace comes so freely. Is has no dollar amount, no price tag on it. Paul says that salvation is given by grace, not as a result of our own works. We can t earn salvation. That seems easy to understand theologically, but we don t usuallyRead MoreAnalysis Of F. E. D. Scott Fitzgerald1005 Words   |  5 PagesCHAPTER FOUR F. E. A. R FALSE, EMOTIONS, APPEARING, REAL Now, that your eyes have begun to open about the relationship. Fear now begins to shadow you. Especially with having no one to talk with, because of his manipulation tactics. Distancing yourself from all of your family and friends. Once again convincing yourself that he was the one. Giving him full control over your life, trying to please his every want and need. Not considering yourself, as long as he was giving you the attention that heRead MoreAnalysis Of The Night Of The Flies By F. Scott Fitzgerald989 Words   |  4 PagesHeavy in the air was the scent of cherries and bourbon, the smell of a man more desperate of atmosphere and above all most desperate of a scene. A man whose breath heavily weighed the air around him searching for the laughter of all wealthy men gathered to assume his drunkedness and take heart to the fact that he so presently was just as they were; drunk and bored. Fairly as it must be said it is in wealth when one possesses the ability to have so much tha t no matter what they seek it shall never

Temptation, Blame, Forgiveness, And An Apple Essay

Katherine Springer Mrs. Lang Honors Humanities 5th Hour 10 November 2016 Temptation, Blame, Forgiveness, and an Apple Genesis-- the book of the beginning of man, according to some religions. In this book, the age old story of Adam and Eve is recorded. The book tells of the first two humans on earth performing the original sin by eating an apple from the Tree of Knowledge in the sacred Garden of Eden. While this story may seem clear cut, humans always have different perspectives on the messages to take away from stories. Sometimes, these differing views are expressed in the form of art. The paintings Adam and Eve by Michelangelo and Adam and Eve by Cranach both portray the biblical story of the first humans’ betrayal of God. As shown by the composition of the paintings, as well as the actions of the figures, Cranach’s couple seem to be unintentionally sinning, while Michelangelo s Adam and Eve appear to be purposeful in their actions. Cranach’s placement of the figures draws the observer’s eye to the apple instead of the serpent, implying that there are subtle manipulation s taking place. On the other hand, Michelangelo’s painting takes the viewer’s eye to Eve directly taking the apple from a much larger serpent’s hand, implying a much more direct intervention from Satan. Both paintings show how easily humans are influenced by temptation; this idea is a common theme across history, and it will be a theme as long as humanity continues to exist. One way both Cranach andShow MoreRelated Importance of Preserving the Union in John Milton’s Paradise Lost5579 Words   |  23 Pagespresence. Instead of leading his wife, as he was instructed to do, Adam is now an excessively doting husband (Webber 15), so much so that he is actually losing sight of himself and who he is. This change in his position in the union will be partly to blame for their downfall. Raphael tries to make Adam see what is happening to his relationship with Eve when he says to Adam, ...Of [self esteem] the more thou knowst, /The more she will acknowledge thee her Head (8.573-74). The more Adam knows, theRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesstream, and you remember that your packets of water-sterilization tablets are in 3 the pocket of your other coat—the one you left at home at the last minute. The three of you are thirsty and have only dehydrated food left, except for four apples. You wish you had bothered to haul in that twelve-pack of Dr. Pepper you decided to leave in the car’s trunk. What do you do? Nobody brought cell phones. You could yell, but that is unlikely to help; you havent seen any other hikers since theRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesAlternatives 199 International Caveats 202 Hints for Applying Problem-Solving Techniques 203 Fostering Creativity in Others 203 Management Principles 204 SKILL ANALYSIS 210 Cases Involving Problem Solving 210 The Mann Gulch Disaster 210 Creativity at Apple 212 SKILL PRACTICE 214 Exercises for Applying Conceptual Blockbusting 214 Individual Assignment—Analytical Problem Solving (10 minutes) 214 Team Assignment—Creative Problem Solving (20 minutes) 215 Moving Up in the Rankings 216 Keith Dunn and McGuffey’sRead MoreCrossing the Chasm76808 Words   |  308 Pagessuch relationships? That question has driven the development of Regis McKenna Inc. since its inception. We began in the 1970s in our work with Intel and Apple where we tried to set a new tone around the adoption of technology products, to capture the imagination of a marketplace whose attentions were directed elsewhere. Working with Intel, Apple, Genentech and many other new technology companies, it became xii Foreword clear that traditional marketing approaches would not work. BusinessRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 Pagespublishers first delayed in responding and then finally admitted they had lost the copy. So only a photocopy of the original typed version exists. During the 1990s, the manuscript was partly typed without alteration into a Word processor, originally an Apple-based system. This was transferred to an IBM system quite recently, but without any conversion of the character codes. It seems that two different systems of coding diacritics were used and more than two IPA phonetic fonts. Furthermore, for some reason

Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Citizenship

Question: Describe about the Corporate Social Responsibility for Corporate Citizenship. Answer: Introduction The companies globally are trying to project a new brand image and taking up the CSR (corporate social responsibility) route. Thus shunning the profit and economic motive, firms are strategizing to not only meet their survival needs but to last generations after that impacting societies and natural environment. The global trends show that being committed to larger causes involving stakeholders leads to aligning business goals with CSR amidst competitive forces. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)- Meaning and Definition CSR is defined as the continued commitment by employees to be ethical for profit making venture and improving quality of life of workforce, society. (Angus-Leppan,et al. 2010). The global trends which are found in the emerging firms who are using CSR, is also changing the expectations of the society while engaged in business. In information driven world, the ability to act on crisis of trust, inequality, sustainability is thus testing the business practices. Some of the practices, action plans used by firms are: innovation for greater good, putting people first, engage in new alliances, spreading economic activity, goal centric, leadership driven governance and performance driven, looking beyond profit. Du et al (2010) added that complying by ILO, OECD, UN regulations and framework, firms are more transparent and committed to employee rights, health and safety, human rights, environment pollution under their top leadership. CSR has evolved over the period of time and the firms integrating supply chains with stakeholders is trying to improve value chain output in partnership model. Firms are now embracing CSR with environmental reporting that tags them to be socially responsible and to feature in sustainability index. Initially a more corporate philanthropy approach, tending towards community volunteering, right now corporate social marketing for cause promotion is a part of responsible business practices. The above initiatives thus prove the utility of the Carrolls Pyramid model where the CSR definition starts with economic responsibilities, to legal, ethical domain as well (Sharp and Zaidman, 2010). Analyse arguments in favour of CSR The leadership philanthropy which is the earliest CSR has realised that CSR is the right instrument to match the corporate operations, upholding societal values. The tactical and strategic moves in the corporate operations then adopt ethical principles to guide them. Friedman and Bavmol economists by origin opposed the social approach and its contribution to the firm and the country at large. While businesses should not be a part of social game, the issue of profit and competitiveness will fail the company if they pursued social goals (Preuss, 2011). A change over several decades show that plenty of MNCs, showed how their organisational culture, values derived from the corporate are shared with suppliers, vendors, customers made them accountable and add it as a compulsory reporting element to make it ethical, transparent. However, it was later on understood that the involvement of the leader, employees to make it as a philosophy. The effectiveness of CSR therefore also linked the brand name and the corporate intentions in their annual agenda. The EU firms started incorporating both financial and sustainability to test CSR in reality found that the movement requires innovation to sustain their venture. They supported EU theories of citizenship, corporate identity and accountability with ethical commitment. The firms like Siemens and BASF from Germany maintained their CSR agenda with OECD guidelines are more holistic in their approach towards overcoming the challenges of CSR implementation (Preuss, 2011). In contrast to that, the US companies use the economics of the triple bottom line approach in their actions and corporate communication. There is more voluntary and social approach to the multi stakeholder dialogue model, as the EU governments promoted the CG (corporate governance) which has given a shape to the movement of CSR. US firms like Johnson and Johnson and Enron both from US showed stark differences with CSR more strategic than moral. The leadership and its actions therefore defines the company behaviour which affected its innovation, outlook towards environment, employee welfare that gradually became a norm (Rangan et al. 2015). The argument whether CSR benefits thus turns the discussion to understand the strategic angle and the efforts applied as the business circumstances for TNC (transnational companies) shows CSR as an indicator for corporate identity and reputation. Therefore, anything that is extrinsic cause that is affecting the firm level operations are short term gains in CSR. A more internalised approach to CSR is the value driven agenda which is committed to the social or environmental cause. The CSP (corporate social performance) of a firm therefore calls for correlation of the social and financial performance which is hard to relate. The broad and narrow views of CSR approach benefitting a firm and leading to competitive advantage needs empirical evidence. The current trend is towards sustainability that indirectly affects lower emissions of GHG, while firms are more proactive to maintain the EEO (equal employment opportunity), funding sports, shifting to green production practices. The win-win outcomes in gaining speed, time, cost efficiencies are done through engaging stakeholders while corporate philanthropy is limited to few firms. Some of them are cause related contributor (Katrina hurricane), while others are more reputation oriented. The upskilling of the employees, innovation in product/services/process is commonly seen while the risks are well managed in a CSR driven business environment (Sharp and Zaidman, 2010). Arguments against the companies practising CSR The above argument of the CSR agenda actually benefitting the firm level profits and meeting the triple bottom line approach or value creation is still a matter of debate. There have been models which are drivers of the strategic and operations metrics which are shared with stakeholders show that it does improve efficiencies of scale and profit. The concept of CSR also brings the CSV (crating shared value) element which is a social element for the business engaged into profit making. The real test is between the CSR and the trade off between CSV in the lines of cost benefit analysis. However, it has been seen that creating the competitive advantage for sustainability of a firm is based on the creating the values which is inimitable. Thus a CSR strategy needs to be tested against ethics framework that calls for stress on the strategies it follows. The ability to differentiate and find a solution has the ground rules of audits, reporting (GRI), accounting rules to be followed. The firm s however also state that there is no tangible benefit of CSR which is visible that makes Friedmans approach to be true (Du et al, 2010). The profit maximisation theory, tending towards accumulation of the wealth, therefore cannot ignore the broader environment. The failure of not meeting the audits, thus makes the firm to make it socially unsustainable which re-strategizes to achieve the business goal. It is however, evident that firms and employees who are engaged into practices also indulge into unethical practices which tarnish the corporate reputation. The motives of the corporate operations are also vital for the scrutiny as the boundary of ethics by employees or a group of employees can fail the business motive. There can be also misdirection which is what leadership thinks to use CSR in order to camouflage the wrong deeds. It is also true for controversial industries that are more prone to damage to environment and interact with the customers. There can be negative corporate psychopathy which that does not drive social responsibility tenets but use it as an eyewash. The stakeholder influence also can be barrier to the CSR being digressed from the corporate mission. The wider network of stakeholders makes the complexity of the CSR mission to be almost neutralised. There are however firm level frameworks like SA8000 to check social accountability of the business entity. In many firms, the most common actions starts with quality QMS approach, where the environmental sustainability is stressed on to comply. The next phase sees the community involvement while the last strategy is to resort to ethical or cause related marketing. This has given rise to ethical consumerism where the firm level actions are creating negative outcomes which have wider social, health, legal implications for the consumers. There is a fine line of ethics for an employee in a firm and the firm itself which engages into unethical act (Angus-Leppan,et al. 2010). These are short term approach to success and easy money that gets audited and are subject to legal actions. It shows that either way, the employee or the firm lev el actions initiated leads to the digression which have a better manner to approach CSR effectiveness, i.e. shared values. Highlight the efforts of a company leading in CSR There are MNCs traversing over the globe while many of them have a defined CSR policy. The company chosen for CSR analysis is Microsoft, the worlds leading software firm based in US. It started its company CSR agenda in the year 2005 shows how they have reduce carbon emissions in its office by adopting a strict agenda based target. It gives out $900 million in cash and in kinds (software) to people last year, setting the trends of philanthropy. Reputation wise it still tops in IT industry so it Corporate citizenship are value add ons to the social and economic well being. The above CSR fund is not the only effort, but training the needy on short term courses for employment showed its vision. It has over 600,000 business partners and stakeholders but is committed to reduce carbon emissions in IT environment which even after EU Commission fines of $899 million for Internet Explorer shows their commitment. There has been increase in employee morale, community and health development proj ects funded by the firm at distant remote parts of the world. It has been able to create jobs, and has enabled the stakeholders to make them economically viable (Microsoft making $1 creates $8.70 for the stakeholders). The model has innovation that in the IT field is also taking the scope of CSR to a level which is more holistic when compared with others (Weber, 2008). Conclusion The CSR journey after the agenda is set is too arduous as there are strict methodologies which need employees and management to believe in creating a sustainable solution. The ability to stand the test of time wading through the external challenges are for every firm and its employees while there framing of the CSR objective needs time. The argument of externalising and internalising the approach to CSR it is therefore open to top management and leadership. This has been cited as one of the key successful factors in making effective CSR work. The examples from the individual and the firm level unethical acts show how the external factors influence while the controllable ones can be done with the value driven approach. This is more long term approach that addresses the firm values to be linked to the CSR agenda. Though there has been failures and mixed results in the effectiveness of CSR implementation the firm level gain is either brand reputation or camouflage on the converse to eye wash the crowd. The tenets of triple bottom line approach or the OECD principles that are the frameworks on which the firm management can substantiate to drive its CSR however needs transparency from employees, stakeholders and management. This is a challenging task as the complex web of the relationships, motives and the business criteria between each of them thus tests the philosophy of the firm level CSR to be put to test. References: Angus-Leppan, T., Metcalf, L. and Benn, S. (2010). Leadership styles and CSR practice: An examination of sensemaking, institutional drivers and CSR leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 93(2), pp.189213. Du, S., Bhattacharya, C.B. and Sen, S. (2010). Maximizing business returns to corporate social responsibility (CSR): The role of CSR communication. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), pp.819. Preuss, L. (2011). Innovative CSR. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 1 (3). Rangan, K., Chase, L. and Karim, S. (2015). The truth about CSR. Harvard Business Review. Sharp, Z. and Zaidman, N. (2010). Strategization of CSR. Journal of Business Ethics, 93(1),pp.5171. Weber, M. (2008). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A company-level measurement approach for CSR. European Management Journal, 26(4), pp.247261.

Understanding Economic Policy Reform free essay sample

What is the point of loudly proclaiming reforms if these are not aimed at improving the well-being of a large majority of the population? And if that is their goal, why should reforms be unpopular? In many areas of policy, there may ex1 Quoted by Jose Maria Maravall in Luiz Carlos Bresser Pereira, Maravall, and Adam Przeworski (1993). â€Å" T ist â€Å"technical† uncertainty as to what the appropriate solution is to the problems at hand. Think of President Clinton’s health care plan, for example, or of global warming. Consequently, reforms will arouse opposition if they are viewed as applying the wrong fix or if they are perceived as being primarily redistributive (that is, zero-sum). What is remarkable about current fashions in economic development policy (as applied to both developing and transitional economies), however, is the extent of convergence that has developed on the broad outlines of what constitutes an appropriate economic strategy. We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Economic Policy Reform or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This strategy emphasizes fiscal rectitude, competitive exchange rates, free trade, privatization, undistorted market prices, and limited intervention (save for encouraging exports, education, and infrastructure). Faith in the desirability and efficacy of these policies unites the vast majority of professional economists in the developed world who are concerned with issues of development. 2 2 The convergence is not complete of course. But compared to two decades ago, the various sides have moved substantially closer to each other. One indicator of this is the recent book by Bresser Pereira, Maravall, and Przeworski (1993), which advocates a â€Å"social democratic† approach. The views expressed in this book concede an inor- 9 10 Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. XXXIV (March 1996) we observe such instances of collective irrationality. The events of the last decade have underscored the need to understand the political-economy of policy making. One of the eventual consequences of the global debt crisis that erupted in 1982 was a wave of market-oriented economic reforms, the likes of which have never been seen. The reforms were strongest and most sustained in Latin America, where countries like Bolivia, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, and Brazil joined Chile in orthodoxy. But this was very much a global phenomenon. â€Å"Stabilization† and â€Å"structural adjustment† became the primary preoccupation of government leaders in Asia and Africa as well, even though the commitment to economic orthodoxy varied across countries and over time. These countries were in turn soon joined by the previously socialist economies of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Economists who had cut their teeth in Latin America’s economic quagmires became the advisors and analysts of these transitional economies. Even India, the giant archetype of a closed, import-substituting economy among developing countries, embarked on a process of economic liberalization in 1991 (see Jagdish Bhagwati 1993 and Arvind Panagariya 1994). These reforms were encouraging to economists and a vindication of sorts to those among them who had long advocated market-oriented reforms. But they in turn raise their own puzzles. Most fundamental of all, why are so many governments reforming now, after decades of adherence to policies of an opposite kind? This question poses a particularly important challenge to political economists: an understanding of these countries’ experiences now requires a theory that explains not only why seemingly dysfunctional policies had been initially un- Hence economists are often torn between two conflicting perspectives: on the one hand, good economic policy should produce favorable outcomes and therefore should prove also to be good politics; on the other hand, the implementation of good economic policy is often viewed as requiring â€Å"strong† and â€Å"autonomous† (not to say authoritarian) leadership. The experience of Chile, a country which has perhaps gone further than any other in implementing liberal economic policies, provides a good example. An essay on Chile’s reform strategy by Jose Pinera (1994), an economist and minister of labor and social security under General Pinochet, concludes: â€Å"[i]n the end, good policy is good politics† (p. 231). The irony is that most of the reforms the author glowingly discusses in the preceding pages required the suspension of normal politics and as heavy a dose of authoritarianism as seen anywhere. Good economics does often turn out to be good politics, but only eventually. Policies that work do become popular, but the time lag can be long enough for the relationship not to be exploitable by would-be reformers. In Chile’s case, free market policies (implemented after 1973) were eventually resoundingly endorsed in the presidential elections of 1989 and have become the envy of Latin America. 3 Conversely, bad economics can be popular, if only temporarily. President Alan Garcia’s popularity soared in Peru during his first two years in office (1985–86), thanks to expansionary fiscal policies whose medium-term unsustainability should have been obvious to anyone with common sense (see Ricardo Lago 1991). The puzzle is why dinate amount to the consensus view, and depart from it in remarkably few details. I will discuss this book in Section IV. 3 For a recent evaluation, see Barry Bosworth, Rudiger Dornbusch, and Ral Labn (1994). Rodrik: Understanding Economic Policy Reform dertaken and then maintained for so long, but also why these policies were suddenly abandoned en masse during the 1980s, often by the same politicians who had been among their most ardent supporters. Second, while the reforms were inspired at least in part by the East Asian experience, they took place much more quickly and, in many areas, are going considerably beyond those undertaken in East Asia. This raises the question of whether the new wave of reformers have internalized the correct lessons from the East Asian experience. Finally, are there any helpful rules for reformers to follow in guiding their policies through complicated political terrain? Can one hope to develop a â€Å"how-to† manual for the reformist politician? Puzzlement over such questions has led to a large and growing literature. A very short bibliography would include books by Merilee Grindle and John Thomas (1991), Robert Bates and Krueger (1993), Krueger (1993), Przeworski (1991), Ranis and Syed Mahmood (1992), Bresser Pereira, Maravall, and Przeworski (1993), Stephan Haggard and Robert Kaufman (1992), Dornbusch and Sebastian Edwards (1993), Haggard and Steven Webb (1994), Lance Taylor (1994), Williamson (1994), and Ian Little et al. (1993), not to mention countless papers. As this partial list indicates, both economists and political scientists have devoted their attention to these issues, often together in coauthored or coedited works. Indeed, no other area of economics or political science that I can think of has spawned so much interdisciplinary work. 5 In this essay, I will provide an econo4 One recent survey—Mariano Tommasi and Andres Velasco 1995—which overlaps with this one deserves special mention. 5 The litera ture on the economics of policy reform is of course even larger. For recent surveys, see Vittorio Corbo and Stanley Fischer (1995) and Rodrik (1995b). 1 mist’s perspective on the political economy of policy reform. I begin by examining the origins and analytical content of the new orthodoxy in development policy (Section II). I will focus here on two issues in particular which I feel remain in need of clarification. One of these concerns the distinction between (a) macroeconomic policies aimed at economic stability, such as fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies, and (b) liberalization policies aimed at structural reform and growth, such as the removal of relative-price distortions and the reduction of state intervention. It has become commonplace to conflate these two groups of policies, but for analytical purposes they are best kept apart. As we shall see, they also have different political-economy underpinnings. Moreover, maintaining the distinction reminds us that the consensus on what constitutes appropriate structural reform is based on much shakier theoretical and empirical grounds than is the consensus on the need for macroeconomic stability. The second issue concerns the appropriate lessons to be drawn from the experience of East Asian success stories. The new orthodoxy has tended to draw a somewhat biased picture that needs correction. Next, I will turn to the reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. This experience has opened an important window on the motivations of politicians, as well as on the nature of interactions between the economy and the polity. As indicated above, an important question is why so many countries have suddenly caught the reform bug. The confluence of economic crisis with reform has led to the natural supposition that crisis is the instigator of reform, a hypothesis that keeps reappearing in the literature and yet is inadequately analyzed.