Includes bibliographical references and index.

Overview: fiscal policy, economic fluctuations and growth / Guillermo Perry, Luis Serven, Rodrigo Suescun and Timothy Irwin -- Procyclical fiscal policy and volatility -- Fiscal discipline, volatility and growth / Antonio Fatas and Ilian Mihov -- The size and effectiveness of fiscal automatic stabilizers in Latin America / Rodrigo Suescun -- Fiscal federalism and procyclical spending: the cases of Argentina and Brazil / Federico Sturzenegger and Rogerio Werneck -- Fiscal rules and procyclicality / Guillermo Perry -- Fiscal policy and growth -- Fiscal discipline, public investment and growth / Luis Serven -- Incentives for public investment under fiscal rules / Jack Mintz and Michael Smart -- Improving the SGP through a proper accounting of public investment / Oliver Blanchard and Francesco Giavazzi -- Accrual accounting, long-term fiscal projections, and public investment / Timothy Irwin -- Growth and fiscal effects of infrastructure investment in Brazil / Pedro Cavalcanti Ferreira and Carlos Hamilton Vasconcelos Araujo.