Geographies of finance III

Abstract

We are now not far short of a decade on from the start of the global financial crisis. By most reckonings, those regions most directly affected by the crisis, and most people living therein, are still struggling to recover from and to come to terms with that crisis. But there already exists a burgeoning literature on the next great financial crisis: on, that is to say, what has – or, more pointedly, has not – been done to prevent such a reoccurrence, to limit its likelihood, or to restrict its potential scope. This literature, and in particular its discussion of financial (re)regulation, is the subject of this article. Through a critical reading of the literature the article argues that positive (re)regulation has been inhibited by the power of the financial sector to stymie meaningful reform, and that this power assumes highly material geographical configurations. The article also emphasizes the profound influence of economic ideas on financial policy-making. One idea that perhaps needs thorough critical reconsideration, the article concludes, is that of financial regulation itself.