Position Paper - Financialization and Planning

According to Forbes magazine, financialization is defined as the “growing scale and profitability of the finance sector at the expense of the rest of the economy and the shrinking regulation of its rules and returns.” The success or failure of the financial sector has had serious effect on the rest of the economy and most of its returns have gone to the wealthy driving inequality.

Financialization describes the growing power of finance capital over economic, social and political processes. From an urban point of view financialization can also be understood as a form of accumulation characterized by the capturing of value and wealth through the provision of credit, insurance and forms of financial intermediation.