Upvoted and resteeming this post! I have pondered these thoughts as well.. and lean towards the thought that yes, financialization has benefited a select minority of individuals and institutions, while exploiting everyone else (and increasing the risk of cataclysm in the global markets).

Wealth transfers happen all the time.. 2008 is the most recent, prime example. The major investment banks profited greatly, while Joe Sixpack had his life savings virtually wiped out. No one even went to jail. Execs still got their $100+ million bonuses.

It really is criminal on so many levels.

And now with the bail-in provision in Dodd-Frank, we can foretell what will happen the next time we see another 2008-esque situation (and this time it will be worse, since QE and artificially low interest rates have turned the global economy into more of a Frankenstein-monster than ever).

I know I rambled a bit, but it was all related to your well-put-together post. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and thoughts on the subject. I appreciated reading your post (and trying to contribute some myself).