This book analyzes an important debate in political economy about the process of liberalization of financial markets and its relationship to economic development. The debate has been driven by rich industrialized economies to the detriment of the performance of less developed economies. Mexico provides a rich context for analyzing the process of financial and capital account liberalization because Mexico's pattern of modernization has not been liberal. It has been founded upon a model of industrialization based on state regulation and clear limitations upon the freedom of market actors.