ABSTRACT
In the late 1970s, the financial markets played a marginal role in the European economy; today, however, they occupy a key position, because their reaction determines the success of many economic policies and management decisions. Focusing on the French context, this chapter shows how Europe has moved so quickly from having an economy characterised by the marginalisation of the financial markets to having an economy influenced, if not dominated, by them. It analyses the transformations that have taken place within the French economy itself and those that have accompanied its integration onto the international stage, particularly in Europe. The opaque nature of the financial system intensified in the twenty-first century due to the privatisation of trading and the measures that made it possible. Since the 1990s, deregulation policies have disrupted that division of financial intermediation.
