The assumption and hedging of genuine economic risk – the risk that companies face when engaged in product and process innovation – gradually ceased to be the main concern of international finance. Over time, the creation and assumption of financial risk became the core activity of the financial industry. This is the risk posed by arbitrage and deliberate exposure to asset price changes.
To date, the 8 new Member States from Central and Eastern Europe which joined the European Union in 2004, and the two which became members in 2007, have succeeded in  4  Duval, Elmeskov, 2006, “The effects of EMU on structural reforms in labour and product markets”, ECB WP No 596.