The relationship between fi nancial globalization and growth is still being debated vigorously. The growing international integration of fi nancial markets is widely, but not universally, applauded as advantageous. Some economists argue that integration with the world’s fi nancial markets cannot help but advance growth (Summers, 2000 ), while others do not see a clear linkage to improved growth. Still others fear that fi nancial integration with the world economy, like increasing current account liberalization and unrestricted capital fl ows, threatens the stability of developing country fi nancial systems (Rodrik, 1998 ; Stiglitz, 2002 ).