Abdelal: Writing the Rules of Global Finance

ABDELAL, R. 2006. Writing the Rules of Global Finance: France, Europe, and Capital Liberalization. Review of International Political Economy 13, no. 1: 1-27.

Capital controls and their promotion: Why was it true that capital controls formed the cornerstone of the monetary system after WWII but were sacrilegious in the late 90s? This paper attempts to tell that story. There is a difference between how US and European leaders presented the promotion of global capital. The Europeans wanted a more globally managed diffusion of finance while the US was much more keenly interested in an ad hoc approach. The standard story focuses on the role of the US in promoting international finance; this story focuses much more on the European players.