Insuring Against Private Capital Flows: Is It Worth the Premium? What Are the Alternatives?

Following an analysis of the forces behind the so-called "global capital flows paradox" observed in the era of advancing financial globalization, this paper sets out to investigate the opportunity costs of self-insurance through precautionary reserve holdings. We reject the idea of reserves as low-cost protection against the vagaries of global finance. And we also deny that arrangements giving rise to their rapid accumulation may be sustainable in the first place. Alternative policy options open to developing countries are explored, designed to limit both the risks of financial globalization and costs of insurance-type responses. We propose comprehensive capital account management as an alternative to full capital account liberalization. The aims of a permanent regulatory regime of capital controls, both with respect to the aggregate size and the composition of capital flows, are twofold. The first aim is to maintain sufficient macro policy space. The second aim is to assure a good micro fit of external expertise incorporated in FDI with a country's development strategy.