Abstract: This chapter traces shifts in the financial landscape over the past twenty-five years. These include the rise of the financial sector, the consumer credit boom that resulted in a rise in household consumption, the concentration of shareholdings in the hands of financial institutions, the rise of corporate governance, the costs and benefits of the great drive for shareholder value and the US stock market boom, the growth of international finance, and the eventual financial crises.

Keywords: financial sector, consumer credit, consumption, shareholdings, shareholder value, stock market, international finance, financial crises,