Financialisation, or the search for profits in the sphere of circulation.

Financialisation of advanced capitalist economies during the last three decades represents expansion of the sphere of circulation, while the sphere of production has continued to face difficulties of profitability and productivity growth. In the course of financialisation, relations between industrial/commercial capital, banks and workers have been put on a different footing. The financial sector has become capable of extracting profit directly out of wages and salaries, a process called financial expropriation. Financial institutions have also become adept at profit-making through mediating transactions in open financial markets, that is, investment banking. The combination of financial expropriation and investment banking catalysed the crisis that began in 2007.