The study gives a general overview of the history of the stock markets, and analyzes the role they play as key components of any country’s financial system, providing financing opportunities for projects that entail a larger level of risk. It speaks to the difficulty of finding key indicators that directly correlate economic development to the strength of the financial sector or the stock market, however, such relationship can be derived indirectly. The study speaks specifically about the change in Taiwan’s and Mexico’s stock markets in the period after 1980, when both countries embraced relatively liberal commercial policies. It discusses about other modern economic challenges such as inequality, and how growth needs to bring development to all parts of our societies.