This article explores how growth of the finance sector can overtake growth in the "real" economy, including manufacturing or trade, and depress wages as returns to capital are protected or increased. In developing and emerging countries, financialisation deepens the vulnerability of local financial systems when they are subject to the volatility of global capital markets and the interest rate decisions of large countries, particularly the US. Without proper controls, financialization can redirect the development process towards securing the profits of private companies and private finance.
