Financialization in the European periphery and the sovereign debt crisis: the Portuguese case

Abstract

The financial sector has acquired great prominence in most developed economies. Some authors argue that the growth of finance is at the root of the financial and economic difficulties of the past decade. This article aims to analyze this claim by looking at financialization in the European periphery, focusing on the Portuguese case. The emergence of this phenomenon is contextualized from a historical, economic and international perspective. Based on the analysis of several indicators, the article concludes that the Portuguese economy exhibits symptoms of financialization that are typically found in Southern European countries and that these differ significantly from the patterns characterizing financialization processes in more advanced economies. The article discusses how the increasing importance of financial actors and motives in the Portuguese economy played a decisive role in the emergence of the crisis.