This research project aims to analyze the determinants of economic growth and development and specifically how the recent changes in the realm of finance affect the economic growth and development processes. It then aims to devise alternative economic policy suggestions based on the results of this analysis. The research will have a theoretical and an applied component that will focus on the Turkish economy. Advanced research methods such as economic modeling, empirical data analysis, and econometrics will be combined with a historical political economy analysis. The findings of the research will be presented at international conferences and distributed first as working papers and then will be submitted to leading academic journals. This research project is extremely timely given the financial turmoil that the world economy and within it the European economy is going through. There is very little economic research that can explain the reasons behind this financial turmoil, its relation to economic growth and alternative economic policies to overcome it. Hence, this research will contribute to European excellence and competitiveness by filling a very significant gap in the economics literature.Compared with the U.S. the studies on this topic has been relatively few and limited. However, the applicant has been one of the leading researchers in the U.S. working on the causes and consequences of financialization, published numerous peer reviewed journal articles, a book and many book chapters on the topic. He has also had the chance to work with and collaborate with the leading economists in the field during his stay in the U.S. All these qualifications make him the perfect candidate to study the topic with this grant. The host organization, Kadir Has University in Istanbul, will provide him with the necessary infrastructure and research opportunities, including a set of very dynamic economics faculty and research assistants to cooperate with.