Establishing Desirable Economic Conditions

This chapter discusses the economics of stabilization and reconstruction (S&R). First we suggest a generic system view of what is needed. We then discuss the differences between post-conflict and other development settings. These differences have major implications for economic objectives, goals, strategy, and metrics; what to an economist would normally be “optimal” in traditional development settings often becomes counterproductive when dealing with post-conflict settings. We then summarize what appear from the literature to be best practices for economic efforts. It is not accidental that much of the emphasis in this chapter is actually about establishing political conditions conducive to good economics. Ultimately, in the context of post-conflict desirable economic conditions, the primary economic challenges are political challenges.