Rethinking the Economics of Capital Mobilityand Capital Controls

Thomas Palley

No 01-2009, IMK Working Paper from IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute

Abstract: This paper reexamines the issue of international financial capital mobility, which is today's economic orthodoxy. Discussion is often framed in terms of the impossible trinity. That framing distorts discussion by representing capital mobility as having equal significance with sovereign monetary policy and control over exchange rates. It also distorts discussion by ignoring possibilities for coordinated monetary policy and exchange rates, and for managed capital flows. The case for capital mobility rests on neo-classical economic efficiency arguments and neo-liberal political arguments. The case against capital mobility is based on Keynesian macroeconomic inefficiency arguments, neo-Walrasian market failure arguments, and neo-Marxian arguments regarding distortion of the social structure of accumulation. Close examination shows the case for capital mobility to be extremely flimsy, pointing to the ideological dimension behind today's policy orthodoxy.

Keywords: capital mobility; capital controls; impossible trinity. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F00 F32 F33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2009
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Rethinking the economics of capital mobility and capital controls (2009)
Working Paper: Rethinking the Economics of Capital Mobility and Capital Controls (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:imk:wpaper:01-2009

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