二次世界大戰後，若干國家為使其外匯存底或公共基金產生更佳的增長效益，開始由政府設置主權財富基金，近年來其規模急遽膨脹而備受矚目，2007 年較2006 年增加18%而為3.3 兆美元，預估至2015 年將超過12 兆美元。2008 年開始因美國次級房貸所引發的全球金融危機，主權財富基金成為許多國家與企業救亡圖存的希望。從國際政治經濟學的角度來看，符合「相互依存理論」與全球化理論中「過程論」的觀點；但在迅速發展下也出現了若干問題，不但動輒影響國際金融市場，在資訊不對稱的情況下也形成相當之政經風險，並引發其他國家的猜疑。

After World War II, in order to obtain better growth performance from the large foreign exchange reserves or public funds, several new financial institutions in East Asia and oil-producing countries in the Middle East started to have their governments establishing the Sovereign Wealth Fund. The Sovereign Wealth Fund has attracted wide attention as their scales rapidly expanded in recent years. The fund scale increased by 18% in 2007, as compared to 2006, and reached USD 330 billion. It is estimated that the funds will exceed USD 12 trillion in 2015. The large capital of the Sovereign Wealth Fund appeared especially important in the 2008 global financial crisis caused by the subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S, and became the lifesaver to countries and companies on the verge of bankruptcy. Basically, from the perspective of international political economics, the development of the Sovereign Wealth Fund conforms to the Interdependency Theory and the Process Theory in the globalization theories. However, on the other hand, the rapid development of the Sovereign Wealth Fund has led to several problems, which not only influence international financial markets, but also trigger political and economical risks under information asymmetry that leads to suspicions of other countries. In particular, China, the world’s largest holder of foreign exchange reserves, established the Sovereign Wealth Fund in 2007, as its socialist government structure and authoritative dictatorship governance, as well as the increasingly evident international political and economical strength, have aroused international concerns. However, whether it will make the “Statist Theory” that stresses commercialism becoming a mainstream deserves further observations.