Unstable global capital flows to developing countries have been characteristic of the world economy in the wake of the global financial crisis. The nations that have deployed capital controls to mitigate the negative effects of such flows have been branded as “protectionist” by some. This...

This Working Paper analyzes the extent to which Chinese demand enhanced the performance of Latin American economies in economic boom that took place from the turn of the century until the run up to the financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009. It has been argued that China’s rise was been a...

In the run up to the financial crisis of 2007-2009 many developing nations fell victim to massive inflows of capital, capital that their financial systems found difficult to absorb.  One of a number of policy options to respond to such inflows is unremunerated reserve requirements (URR).  Two...

As the barriers to hemispheric trade and integration are lowered, it will be asked whether we will we hear the "giant sucking sound" of poorer nations luring U.S. and Canadian firms south to take advantage of low wages and lax environmental regulations? Or, will Latin American nations passively...

This Working Paper considers the role of democracy in environmental quality and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Some studies in the EKC literature have examined the extent to which democratic nations are more or less apt to have improving environmental conditions, but they have drawn from...

Environmental economics assumes that reliance on price signals, adjusted for externalities, normally leads to efficient solutions to environmental problems. We explore a limiting case, when market volatility created “mixed signals”: waste paper and other recycled materials were briefly worth...

The global financial crisis has triggered a transformation in thinking and practice regarding the role of government in managing international capital flows. This paper traces and evaluates the re-emergence of capital controls as legitimate tools to promote financial stability. Whereas capital...

International capital mobility has long been associated with financial and banking crises.  The Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund contain multi-lateral rules to govern global capital flows.  For some countries, especially those in the developing world, the IMF Articles...

Market based policies are fast becoming the recommended policy panacea for all the world's environmental problems. Implicit in such recommendations is the theory that free markets, adjusted for externalities, can always create an "efficient" allocation of society's resources. As a result, many...

Market based policies are fast becoming the recommended policy panacea for all the world’s environmental problems. Implicit in such recommendations is the theory that free markets, adjusted for externalities, can always create an “efficient” allocation of society’s resources. As a...