financialization
Money markets ascendant
Financialization is the growing dominance of financial markets, institutions, and motives in an economy.
The term describes a shift where profits increasingly come from financial activities—trading, lending, speculation—rather than producing goods or services.
Critics use it to explain rising inequality, corporate short-termism, and economic instability: The financialization of housing turned homes into investment vehicles.
Pro-market, anti-regulation ideology
- deregulationRemoving governmental business restrictions
- commodificationTransforming into sellable goods
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
- rentierLives on investment income
extractive · bubble · austerity · rent-seeking · speculation · boom-bust · Ponzi · bailout
Bundling debts into investable instruments
- derivativesThings derived from another
- leverageBorrowed capital for amplified returns
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
- arbitrageExploiting price discrepancies
Money owed another
- mortgageSecured home loan
- 401(k)Tax-advantaged retirement savings account
- retirementLeaving the workforce permanently
- pensionRetiree's ongoing benefit
Wealth used for investment
- wealthAbundance of valuable resources
- assetsOwned items of value
- equityImpartial treatment or ownership value
- fundsAvailable financial resources
reserves · portfolio · real-estate · hoarding · concentration · appreciation · dividends · yield
Corporate combination
- acquisitionAct of obtaining something
- CEOTop corporate officer
- dividendCorporate profit share
- boardroomCorporate decision venue
IPO · restructuring · fiduciary · short-termism · conglomerate
Exchanging for value
- securitiesTradeable financial assets
- equitiesOwnership stakes in corporations
- bondsTies that unite
- forexCurrency trading market
commodities · NASDAQ · liquidity · volume · brokerage · indices · over-the-counter · exchanges
Worldwide economic and cultural integration
- cross-borderSpanning national boundaries
- offshoreAway from land
- transnationalCrossing country lines
- liberalizationReducing state economic controls
neoliberalism
Pro-market, anti-regulation ideology
- deregulationRemoving governmental business restrictions
- commodificationTransforming into sellable goods
- inequalityUnequal distribution of resources
rentier · extractive · bubble · austerity · rent-seeking · speculation · boom-bust · Ponzi · bailout
securitization
Bundling debts into investable instruments
- derivativesThings derived from another
- leverageBorrowed capital for amplified returns
- hedgingNoncommittal maneuvering
debt
Money owed another
- mortgageSecured home loan
- 401(k)Tax-advantaged retirement savings account
- retirementLeaving the workforce permanently
capital
Wealth used for investment
- wealthAbundance of valuable resources
- assetsOwned items of value
- equityImpartial treatment or ownership value
funds · reserves · portfolio · real-estate · hoarding · concentration · appreciation · dividends · yield
merger
Corporate combination
- acquisitionAct of obtaining something
- CEOTop corporate officer
- dividendCorporate profit share
boardroom · IPO · restructuring · fiduciary · short-termism · conglomerate
trading
Exchanging for value
- securitiesTradeable financial assets
- equitiesOwnership stakes in corporations
- bondsTies that unite
forex · commodities · NASDAQ · liquidity · volume · brokerage · indices · over-the-counter · exchanges · ticker
globalization
Worldwide economic and cultural integration
- cross-borderSpanning national boundaries
- offshoreAway from land
- transnationalCrossing country lines
- free marketsfree market, free enterprise, free trade, free markets, laissez-faire
- industrial declinedeindustrialization, factory closures, factory closure, plant shutdowns, plant shutdown
- market shiftsboom, bust, collapse, contraction, correction
- post-industrialservice economy, knowledge economy, deindustrialization, service sector, information age
- predatory financevulture capitalism, corporate raiders, predatory lending, asset stripping, loan sharks
- heterodox economicspolitical economy, socialist economics, degrowth
financializationindustrialization
Transition to factory-based economy
industrial capitalism · industrial economy · agrarianism · agrarian economy · mercantilism
financializationlong-termism
Prioritizing far-future welfare
Fordism · reinvestment · organic growth · value creation · worker ownership
finance, finances, financial, financing, financed, financier, financially, financiers, refinance