Financialization describes the turn to speculative asset trading that has become increasingly central to economic life in recent decades. Critics argue this has occurred at the expense of the “real economy,” referring to production and trade. Critics further argue that finance’s normal role is to serve the needs of the productive sector. Financialization, which diverts capital from production to speculation, is viewed as a deviant form of capitalist development. Drawing on original institutionalist insights, this article argues that such a juxtaposition of the so-called real economy versus deviant financialization is misleading. Financial speculation is a logical outcome of capitalism’s actual real economy—capital accumulation. Firms within a capitalist economy must continually engage profit-seeking practices, which in turn produces psychological habituation in agents. The latter makes profit-seeking, not production-seeking, the psychological foundation of capitalist agency, such that all legal profit-making activity is an instance of capitalism’s real economy. Prioritizing productive investment is a desired economy, an outcome that requires regulatory intervention. This paper proposes that credit guidance is a regulatory solution to financialization, one that can increase economic welfare.

JEL Classification: O38, D91, H11, P10

金融化描述了投机性资产交易的转变，这种交易在近几十年来越来越成为经济生活的核心。批评人士认为，这是以牺牲“实体经济”为代价的，指的是生产和贸易。批评者进一步争辩说，金融的正常作用是满足生产部门的需求。将资本从生产转向投机的金融化被视为资本主义发展的一种异常形式。本文借鉴原始制度主义的见解，认为将所谓的实体经济与异常金融化并置是一种误导。金融投机是资本主义实际实体经济——资本积累的合乎逻辑的结果。资本主义经济中的公司必须不断地从事逐利行为，这反过来又会在代理中产生心理习惯。后者使追求利润而不是追求生产成为资本主义代理的心理基础，使得一切合法的营利活动都是资本主义实体经济的一个实例。优先考虑生产性投资期望的经济，需要监管干预的结果。本文提出信贷指导是金融化的一种监管解决方案，可以增加经济福利。

JEL 分类： O38、D91、H11、P10