Mary Ann Haley directly tackles, and conclusively refutes, a crucial tenet of the contemporary international financial liberalizers: their claim that laissez faire international capital flows promote freedom in developing countries. Her careful study demonstrates that capital account liberalization, demanded from abroad, severely constrains the economic policy options of elected leaders in emerging market countries...This book provides a timely and important counter-weight to the prevalent, but mistaken, claim that open capital markets, including for short-term flows, and democracy reinforce one another.' - Leslie Elliott Armijo, Visiting Scholar, Reed College