Capital Controls as Taxation Policy

This paper studies the public finance implications ofcontrols on international financial capital flows, proposinga model of controls as distortionary taxation. The model formalizesa capital controls rule that conforms real-world stylized factsand is sustainable in the long-run. Capital controls are shownto distort agents' optimal intratemporal portfolio decisionsand intertemporal consumption decisions, affecting the dynamicsof financial and real variables. We use the model to analyzethe feasible set of tax instruments—in terms of level andmix—available to the government and the complex relationshipsbetween expenditures and taxes mediated by the foreign sector.