Introduction

This introduction situates the book’s arguments in relation to existing work in political economy, economic geography and economic sociology. The chapter highlights the paucity of existing scholarship into the financial stability function of central banking and so establishes the empirical contribution of this book. The chapter then foregrounds the main conceptual contribution of the book. By conceptualizing financial stability as ‘speculative security’, the study is anchored in an interdisciplinary literature concerned with the interconnections between finance and security. The case is made that over the 21-year period of study there has been a cultural shift, from speculating on risk to speculating for risk.