Analyzes and compares the attempts of 18 developing countries to maintain economic stability in the face of a series of internal problems and crises between 1974 and 1989. The authors explore the impact of international price, interest rate, and demand shocks and of domestic investment booms and fiscal problems. They identify three periods: *1974-79, the period between the first and second oil shocks, when easy borrowing led to spending booms in many of the countries studied *1980-82, a period of global recession and of external debt crises for many of the countries *1983-90, during which these countries undertook structural adjustment and attempted to return to economic growth. The authors investigate why the fiscal, monetary, exchange rate, and trade policies undertaken in response to these shocks differed across the 18 countries. They analyze the effectiveness of the policy responses and their implications for long-term growth. And they identify some cause-and-effect relationships between economic and political variables and draw lessons for the future. Co-published with Oxford University Press.