“The main lesson from international experience is that controls on capital outflows can work—but only if they are associated with a credible policy plan addressing the underlying cause of the confidence crisis.”
Olivier Jeanne, of the Center and Peterson Institute, has an interesting op-ed in the Dec. 23 Financial Times arguing that capital controls may be useful policy tool for Russia at present, so long as they are used only to provide breathing space to begin putting in place more fundamental policy changes.