The Economics of Middle East Peace: Views from the Region

by Stanley Fischer

This landmark collection of essays addresses the Given peace in the MiddleEast, then what? Focusing on the countries most immediately affected by the Arab-Israeli conflict,economists representing Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Occupied Territories offer differingperspectives on potential opportunities and difficulties and on the actions that would be requiredto redirect, rejuvenate, and sustain the economies of the region.The book opens with case studies ofEgypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It then examines overallregional issues such as the economic consequences of peace and the economic reforms needed tomaximize peace dividends. Essays in the last part focus on the transition to peace and the futureeconomic development of the Palestinian, Israeli, Jordanian, and other regional economiesTopicsaddressed include the relation of defense spending to the economy, the implications of a peace fortrade across borders, the benefits of economic cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians, andthe role of foreign aid in economic reconstruction in the Middle East.Stanley Fischer is Professorof Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dani Rodrik is Associate Professor ofPublic Policy at the Kennedy School, Harvard University. Elias Tuma is Professor of Economics at theUniversity of California, Davis.

384 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 1993

About the author

Stanley Fischer was an American and Israeli economist who served as the 20th vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017. Fischer previously served as the 8th governor of the Bank of Israel from 2005 to 2013. Born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), he held dual citizenship in Israel and the United States. He previously served as First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund and as Chief Economist of the World Bank. On January 10, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Fischer to the position of Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve. On September 6, 2017, Fischer announced that he was resigning as vice-chair for personal reasons effective October 13, 2017. He was a senior advisor at BlackRock.