Governing Finance

"Walter does excellent work laying out the politico-economic dynamic by which governments navigate between the regulatory neoliberals and domestic pressure groups. One of his conclusions is that this push and pull results in compliance regimes that are highly variable and not likely to converge quickly, if at all, with the stated (and ever changing) ideal of Western-oriented multilateral agencies and Western governments."—Choice
"Global finance can be a lightning rod for crisis and economic collapse. Some of the world's most powerful policymakers believe they can manage these risks by promoting `international standards.' Andrew Walter's rigorous book demonstrates why they might be wrong. It is a must-read for students, scholars, and practitioners of global finance and regulation."—Ngaire Woods, Oxford University and author of The Globalizers: The IMF, the World Bank, and their Borrowers
"Nearly everyone expected the Asian Crisis to foster massive reforms—but it did not. Walter brilliantly illuminates why 'mock compliance' with international financial standards took precedence over substantive change."—Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Reginald Jones Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
"Andrew Walter's book highlights important differences between the appearance and substance of financial governance reforms in Asia. He also makes a valuable contribution to explaining how power and interest shape differential reform outcomes by placing domestic political forces at the heart of his analysis."—Garry Rodan, Director, Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University
"Andrew Walter's Governing Finance introduces to the field of international financial regulation the extremely useful concept of 'mock compliance.' International financial markets are not so constraining that governments in developing countries don't pretend to comply with international regulations and standards. To the question of why international investors don't punish such governments with capital flight, Walter points out that international investors may be satisfied with mock compliance as long as they believe the government can and will bail out the local companies should the need arise. This book combines keen insight with a detailed account of international regulatory compliance—or lack thereof—in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Korea."—Frances McCall Rosenbluth, Damon Wells Professor of Political Science, Yale University