The paper focuses on real aspects of financial globalisation and financial depth. It surveys the literature on the effects of finance on productivity growth. Both the theoretical and the empirical analyses reach no clear consensus regarding the direct growth contribution of financial liberalisation and financial development. Both positive and negative effects of finance on direct growth have been found. More clearness emerges when more precise growth channels, and in particular, productivity dynamics is considered, with the estimated effects being positive and mainly strongly significant. All this points to an important conceptual insight suggesting that not any growth channel, but especially productivity-driven impulses are more intensively linked to financial aspects of economic development.