The extent to which the private sector has helped resolve emerging-market crises has evolved over time. During the debt crises of the 1980s, official support generally was focused on financing current account shortfalls and easing the macroeconomic adjustment process. Bank creditors restructured old loans, extended new loans, and eventually--under the Brady plan--exchanged their loans for bonds with diminished value.
For instance, one of the winning cities, Lawrence, Massachusetts, set goals of increasing the income of parents with children in the Lawrence Public School system by 15 percent, dramatically increasing parental engagement in the schools and tracking the impact of these efforts on student achievement.