The financial sector has acquired great prominence in most developed economies. Some authors argue that the growth of finance is at the root of the financial and economic difficulties of the past decade. This paper aims to analyse this claim by looking at financialisation in the European periphery, focusing on the Portuguese case. The emergence of this phenomenon is contextualised from a historical, economic and international perspective. Based on the analysis of several indicators, the paper concludes that the Portuguese economy exhibits symptoms of financialisation that are typically found in Southern European countries and that these differ significantly from the patterns characterising financialisation processes in more advanced economies. The paper discusses how the increasing importance of financial actors and motives in the Portuguese economy played a decisive role in the emergence of the crisis.

FFi in na an nc ci ia al li is sa at ti io on n i in n t th he e E Eu ur ro op pe ea an n P Pe er ri ip ph he er ry y a an nd d t th he e S So ov ve er re ei ig gn n D De eb bt t C Cr ri is si is s: :

Deep asymmetries in economic structures across EU member states became evident in the context of the recent crises in the eurozone. Notwithstanding, innovation policy analysis at the EU level tends to overlook these asymmetries. The use of innovation scoreboards – such as the Innovation Union Scoreboard (IUS) – as a main device for policy monitoring and benchmarking adds to the common tendency for one-size-fits-all approaches to innovation policy. In fact, the methodology underlying the construction of the IUS largely ignores the wide variety of economic structures among the countries under analysis. This article shows that once each country’s economic structure is considered the assessment of innovation strengths and weakness at the national level may change significantly. Policy recommendations may be improved accordingly.

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