Was it really just over a decade ago that the International Monetary Fund and investors howled when Malaysia imposed capital controls in response to the Asian financial crisis? We ask because suddenly those times seem so distant. Today, the IMF is not just sitting on its hands as country after country resurrects capital controls, it is actually going so far as to promote their use. What about the investors whose freedoms are eclipsed by the new controls? Well, their enthusiasm for foreign lending and investing has not been damped in the least. So what is going on here? In our view, nothing short of the most significant transformation in global financial management of the past 30 years.
那真的是10多年前才發生的事情嗎？當時馬來西亞爲應對亞洲金融危機開始實行資本管制，國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)和投資者開始對此咆哮不已。我們之所以這樣問，是因爲突然之間，那些年代似乎變得如此遙遠。如今，在一個又一個國家重新實行資本管制之際，IMF不僅袖手旁觀，而且實際上是在鼓勵這種做法。那些因這些新的管制措施而被剝奪了自由的投資者呢？他們對海外放貸及投資的熱情絲毫沒有減弱。這到底是怎麼回事？在我們看來，這是過去30年全球金融管理領域最爲重大的一場轉變。