Re: dollarization (was: imposing)

["Alan G. Isaac" <aisaac@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 23 Apr 2001, eperez wrote:
> (i) GDP per cápita in Panamá (%rates of g.)
> 1995  1996   1997 1998 1999 2000
> 1.0      1.1       2.7     2.7    1.3   1.1

Esteban, You missed my point.  Panama has been dollarized since 1904.
I was suggesting that the results of dollarization should be evaluated
over a few decades, not just over a few down years.  (Not that the
growth rates you report are horrible.)  Of course getting non-monetary
data back more than a decade and a half is difficult, which
contributes to the difficulties in assessing the different
experiences.  Obviously the monetary regime is just one aspect of the
Panamanian economy, as with any economy, which also makes assessment
difficult.  But as I said, if we look at what data we do have,
Panama's dollarization does not look too bad.  I'll grant you that the
unemployment comparisons are not rosy, but I'd need to know a lot of
details before I'd be inclined to attribute that to Panama's
dollarization (including comparability of the data series and
determinants of fiscal stance).  In any case, I don't imagine you
would be inclined to minimize the contribution of avoiding the
monetary crises that have plauged so many Latin American countries.
Right?  Alan