The global financial crisis has prompted some policymakers around the world to tighten economic controls, restricting currency and capital, capping interest rates, and imposing import/export licenses.

Governments should be use caution when manipulating the free flow of currency and goods – history shows it can lead to an uptick in black market violence.

Professor Kislaya Prasad at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business recently studied this effect. He talks about his findings in this edition of Smith Business Close-Up.