Financialization is not good

nice post

too much financialization is a drag on growth

Financial services should be boring and low cost, and where they get government subsidies via explicit or de facto guarantees (often!) they should be regulated as utilities. Otherwise, they become vehicles for rentierism and wasteful allocation of resources. For instance, as Michael Hudson pointed out, classical economist backed usury ceilings; otherwise, one of the most lucrative borrower groups were rich gamblers, who hardly deserved to have their habits supported at the expense of productive industry.