Why money has suddenly started flowing out of emerging markets

Is China in a pickle?

Countries such as China are suddenly facing an economic dilemma.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Stringer)

In the latest weird economic news, something is happening in international capital flows that we haven't seen since the late 1980s. Emerging markets, which have seen money flowing into their economies for years, suddenly saw those flows reverse — and reverse massively — in 2015. On net, $111 billion flowed out of the emerging markets in 2014. But the latest numbers from the Institute for International Finance peg the outflow in 2015 at a whopping $735 billion.

Okay, I'm sure you're saying. That sounds dramatic. But, uh, what does it mean?

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Jeff Spross

Jeff Spross was the economics and business correspondent at TheWeek.com. He was previously a reporter at ThinkProgress.