Capital controls

‘Capital controls’ are regulations implemented by governments in order to manage international financial transactions. Recently these have been referred to as ‘capital flow management’ techniques (CFMs) or capital account regulations (CARs). There has been a sea change in recent years in the ‘official’ perception by economists and policy makers with respect to the desirability and viability of capital controls (CARs, CFMs). Whereas previously, capital controls were seen as a costly and inefficient intrusion into the free market allocation of global finance, now, capital flows are perceived to be highly variable – even ‘fickle’ – and capital account regulations are seen as a potentially useful tool to manage these flows. Empirical evidence on the efficacy, benefits and costs of capital account regulations is growing.