Borders are closing and banks are in retreat. Is globalisation dead?

"The freeing-up of capital flows is what led to the East Asian financial crisis [of the late 1990s], and we need to do something about that," he says. He argues that free capital flows are not a necessary part of globalisation. "Did you expect me also to be for free love?" he jokes. "Maybe I am, but not because I'm a free trader!"

Recent research by the International Monetary Fund, highlighted by its managing director Christine Lagarde, suggested that developing countries must be cautious about so-called "financial deepening" -- expanding their banking sectors and opening up their capital markets -- because without tough regulation it can be too risky.''