(Bloomberg View) – Three decades ago, a revolution occurred in the world economy. Today, we're living through its extensive political consequences.
This revolution consisted of financialization. Financial services, from banks and hedge funds to trading houses, became the largest industry in the U.S.
Market speculation replaced industrial productivity as the motor of U.S. growth, while mobile capital was steadily liberated from tax and regulatory regimes around the world.
The impact of this revolution has been incalculable. Accompanied by the rapid enrichment of a few and stagnation and disappointment for many more, it's destabilized political life on all continents, empowering, among others, volatile demagogues such as Donald Trump.
Back in the 19th century, another economic revolution, one based on industrial modes of production, also launched a new phase in human history.
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