What is financialization?

The paper seeks to distinguish between two broad perspectives on financialisation. The first, taking the view that financialisation relates to the growth of the financial sector in its operations, power etc.. On that basis, financialisation has been proceeding with ups and downs for possibly thousands of years. The specific forms which financialisation may have taken in the past few decades are outlined. The findings from mainstream economics literature on one aspect of financialisation (growth of bank deposits, growth of stock markets) and economic growth are reviewed. The second perspective views financialisation (financialised capitalism) as a stage or epoch of capitalism dating from circa 1980.