International capital mobility is a fundamental aspect of the political economy of globalization and, in this new book, Matthew Watson develops a novel framework for understanding this all-important phenomenon. Drawing on a distinction between the spatial and the functional mobility of capital, Watson provides fresh insights into existing work on the subject whilst repoliticizing the very idea of capital being 'in motion'.
Recent developments in the institutional structure of financial markets have disembedded the pricing dynamics of those markets from societal interests, at the same time that the move to asset-based welfare has embedded increasing numbers of people into financial markets. The juxtaposition of these twin processes of disembedding and embedding heightens the financial risk exposures of ordinary savers. The dynamics of capital mobility and the patterns of risk exposure are illustrated through four cases: the Asian financial crisis; the Tobin tax; the Enron affair; and the proposed consolidation of the European stock market.
Recent developments in the institutional structure of financial markets have disembedded the pricing dynamics of those markets from societal interests, at the same time that the move to asset-based welfare has embedded increasing numbers of people into financial markets. The juxtaposition of these twin processes of disembedding and embedding heightens the financial risk exposures of ordinary savers. The dynamics of capital mobility and the patterns of risk exposure are illustrated through four cases: the Asian financial crisis; the Tobin tax; the Enron affair; and the proposed consolidation of the European stock market.
