Financialisation: a primer

Global financial markets have expanded massively in recent decades, dwarfing ‘real’ production and trade and impacting on multiple aspects of our economy, society and environment. The global financial crisis of 2008 sounded the alarm bells about the dangers of an unregulated financialised world, but hidden behind the seemingly impenetrable jargon of collateralised debt obligations and over-the-counter derivatives, it is hard to understand the nature of financialisation let alone know how to confront it. In the meantime, financialisation of our global economy has continued unchecked. This primer is a beginner’s guide to financialisation – explaining how it works, how it shapes our lives, the forces that lie behind it, and how we might start resisting processes that prioritise freedom for capital over human rights and democracy.