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Document Type

Note

Publication Date

Summer 2014

Publication Citation

21 Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 599 (2014)

Abstract

The transnational free flow of capital represents one of the core factors driving the globalization of the world since the beginning of the Bretton-Woods era. Under the "traditional" Neoliberal theory of globalization, this free flow of capital remains sacrosanct, an unstoppable force with which state actors cannot and should not interfere. However, the recent financial crisis has caused some to question this absolute faith in the benefits of unregulated transnational capital flows and to assert that the state still has a role to play in influencing the creation of international norms on capital. Tax haven regulation represents one area that has seen a significant increase in interest in the United States since the financial crisis, most notably in the forms of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. Although much has already been written on the purported benefits and drawbacks of tax haven reform, this note will instead focus on the view of globalization and the state's role in it that underlie these pieces of legislation. In short, this note will argue that this legislation, and the renewed interest in tax haven regulation surrounding it, represents a shift away from the absolutist neoliberal view of globalization toward one that both recognizes the potential benefits of capital-flow regulation and the ability of state actors to use their domestic law-making capacity to influence the creation of these new international regulatory norms.

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