Haldane on the financialisation of finance

Another gem from Andrew Haldane's speech, which we've just blogged

At the same time, the ballooning of trading activities was starving basic banking of resources. In consequence, the offering to bank customers became a rather different one. The humble, regional loan officer was pensioned-off, replaced by a centralised credit risk model which neither answered back nor required a pension. Branches were closed in an effort to contain costs. Banking became a transactional business, underpinned by a sales-driven, commission-focussed culture.

Financialisation is a huge topic, which deserves everyone's attention. Whole industries, whether bought out by private equity companies or otherwise, have turned their attention away from seeking long-term, organic growth based on building fantastic products and services, towards shorter-term activities based on financial returns. The result has been weakness and inequality.

And the financial sector itself has been financialised. What Haldane describes here is just an indication of the problem. Finance eats itself.