Neoliberalism is the ideological expression of the return to hegemony of the Žnancial fraction of ruling classes. The meaning of this movement can only be understood from a historical perspective. Modern Žnance, linked to the real economy, appeared in the wake of the structural crisis of the late nineteenth century. It lost its unrivalled domination, when the Keynesian compromise was ushered in by the succession of the great depression and World War II. Its return to power followed the crisis which began in the 1970s. The class character of neoliberalism is evident from an examination of the available Žgures. It prolonged the deŽcient proŽt rates of non-Žnancial corporations and, thus, slow growth and unemployment. It was responsible for the deŽcits and the growing indebtedness of the states, as well as for the crisis of the debt of Third World countries, etc. But not enough attention has been paid to the beneŽts that Žnance gleaned from its return to hegemony during the crisis: the stunning rise of the proŽts and growth of the Žnancial sector, only delayed in the US by the banking and thrift crises of the 1980s. It is not that Žnance organized to minimize its own costs during the crisis. It actually beneŽted from the crisis in amazing proportions, already during the crisis as in France, or after as in the US Žnancial sector. One should not underestimate the sufferings of the unemployed and homeless, or of Third-world countries. But perhaps the biggest cost stemming from the rise of Žnance is the increase in the domestic and international instability