In the surnmero f 1997, whent he Federal ReserveB anko f Bostons elected the topic for its fortysecond annual economicc onference, manyp undits werea sking: "Is the business cycle dead, or at least permanently dampened?"B y the time the Bank’s conference convenedi n June 1998, the same pundits queried: "What caused the massive recessions in Asia?" and "Can the United States remain ’an oasis of prosperity,’ as Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan termed it, while economiesw orldwidea re under siege from financial crises?" Howq uickly things change! BeyondS hocks:W hatC ausesB usiness Cycles ? turned out to be a particularly timely conference
