Abstract

After the early 1970s, the global increase in capital flows, driven by a shift away from capital controls and heightened dependence on external financing, has interconnected national capital markets, making them more volatile and contingent on a consensus among leading states for policy collaboration during crises. In the late twentieth-century most cross-border financial crises began in emerging market economies. However, the 2008 financial crisis, which began in the United States and spread to Europe, and ongoing pressures such as COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, emerging digital technologies, and geopolitical strife between the US and China have tested the resilience and stability of the global financial system. This work examines these key events, as well as deepening domestic and international struggles over the unequal distribution of costs and benefits of financial openness in the global economy.