The growing pace of change and turbulence in the world economy requires individual national economies to be adaptable. For example, inflexibility led to economic crisis in Eastern Europe and in Africa, while adaptability characterized the "economic miracle" of East Asia. The structural adjustment programs adopted in many developing countries reflect the extent to which the importance of these issues is now being recognized.

The Flexible Economy is the first volume to explicitly address the nature and determinants of economic adaptability. This multidisciplinary collection of specially commissioned papers explores the subject from a wide variety of perspectives. Conceptual papers discuss treatment of the topic in economic theory and in the literature on economic development. There are case studies of Africa, East Asia, and Eastern Europe and a comparative study of responses to oil shocks. Separate chapters examine the topic as it relates to the industrial and financial sectors andthe political determinants of economic flexibility. The final chapter draws general conclusions.