For almost thirty years, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (BPEA) has provided academic and business economists, government officials, and members of the financial and business communities with timely research of current economic issues. Contents Include: Articles Looting: The Economic Underworld of Bankruptcy for Profit, George A. Akerlof and Paul M. Romer Movements in the Equity Premium, Olivier J. Blanchard Privatizing Russia, Maxim Boycko, Andrei Shleifer, and Robert W. Vishny Economic Activity and the Short-term Credit Markets: An Analysis of Prices and Quantities, Benjamin M. Friedman and Kenneth N. Kuttner Poverty, Income Distribution, and Growth: Are They Still Connected?, Rebecca M. Blank and David Card Report The Responses of U.S. Firms to Exchange Rate Fluctuations: Piercing the Corporate Veil, Subramanian Rangan and Robert Z. Lawrence