In Making Financial Globalization, Clara Park challenges the conventional wisdom that finance has always been global. Drawing on original datasets of financial trade restrictions and domestic financial regulations in over 100 countries, archival research of international negotiations, and case studies of the US and China, Park details how financial firms used multilateral lobbying strategies to create an international framework for financial service
liberalization. As she shows, the powerful coalition across industries and countries exerted considerable pressure on national governments, who had to weigh the costs and benefits of liberalization, and facilitated
international negotiations. A novel political-economic explanation for financial globalization, this timely book challenges state-centric views in international relations and emphasizes the interplay of firms and politics as a central factor shaping financial globalization.
Industry Reviews
"To many today it may seem that a global financial market is the normal and natural state of things. Clara Park reminds us that financial globalization was made in the decades after 1990, and that it was made by self-interested private financial institutions. Before then, finance was largely national and often state-controlled. But international financial institutions worked together to change both national and international policies. They spurred regulatory
changes at the national level, and the creation of multilateral agreements, that created the contemporary globally integrated financial order. With theoretical and empirical clarity, Park shows the
private-sector origins of the cutting edge of modern globalization." -- Jeffry Frieden, Harvard University
"Park's Making Financial Globalization is an important addition to financial globalization research. Noteworthy is her emphasis on global financial firms as pivotal in shaping the international financial framework. Another highlight is her shift towards scrutinizing financial current account regulation, rather than capital account regulation, in the global governance of finance. Additionally, her creation of two extensive databases on financial trade
restrictions and regulations will greatly benefit scholars. This work stands as a remarkable contribution from an emerging scholar." -- Dennis Quinn, Georgetown University