Economists have long maintained that a well-developed and functioning financial system is a vital prerequisite to economic growth. Countries with robust banking sectors and securities markets-that is, countries in which credit cards, loans, mortgages, and the ability to issue stocks and bonds...

Economists emphasize the creation of markets as the central problem of development, encapsulated in the oft-used phrase, “get prices right.” In the economists’ approach, the role of the government is to provide a set of market-enhancing public goods, such as defining property rights,...