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IMF tempers on capital controls

Dick Taffe — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:18:21 +0000

The International Monetary Fund recently endorsed the use of capital controls by governments to avoid asset bubbles. Now it’s backing off a bit, saying such policies could cause distortions in domestic and international markets. International Relations Professor Kevin Gallagher, a specialist in globalization and development who has written about the IMF and capital controls in Foreign Policy magazine, says the IMF is waffling.

“On capital controls the IMF seems to be stuck making one step forward, two steps back. Capital controls are instrument to correct for distortions, not create them.”

Contact Kevin Gallagher, 617-353-9348, kpg@bu.edu

China defends economic policies

Dick Taffe — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:19:40 +0000

In his once-a-year news conference, China’s premier sought to deflate pressure over Chinese economic policies and promised cooperation in revving up the global recovery. International relations Professor Kevin Gallagher, author of “The Dragon in the Room: China and the Future of Latin American Industrialization,” says says its good that China is pointing to other countries for their protectionist tendencies.

“The U.S. and others can’t have their cake and eat it too — by taking China to the WTO when China is violating rules then crying ‘protectionist’ when the U.S. is taken to task.”

Contact Kevin Gallagher, 617-353-9348, kpg@bu.edu

IMF eases thoughts on capital controls

Dick Taffe — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:57:47 +0000

The International Monetary Fund is apparently rethinking some of its long-held ideas about how unfettered capital flows between countries are “a fundamentally benign phenomenon.” International relations Professor Kevin Gallagher, co-author of “Capital Controls and 21st Century Financial Crises,” says it’s about time the IMF sees that some capital controls are useful and necessary.

“The U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research published an assessment in 2007 that came to the same conclusion. Now, the challenge for both the IMF and the United States is to ‘practice what you preach.’ The U.S. needs to put its policy on capital controls in tune with economic science.”

Contact Kevin Gallagher, 617-353-9348, kpg@bu.edu