ABSTRACT

International capital mobility has long been associated with financial and banking crises. The Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) contain multilateral rules to govern global capital flows. This chapter traces the modern history of the governance of cross-border capital flows. The regime was one of co-operative decentralization, but has emerged since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) as an incoherent mix of co-operative decentralization and strong international standards that may threaten the ability of nations to govern global capital effectively. The chapter discusses the Bretton Woods era. It examines the period from the 1970s until the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC). The chapter analyses the period from the AFC to the GFC and its aftermath. It offers an analytical framework to show how power, interests, ideas and institutions together shaped each era in different combinations to yield different outcomes.