Beyond the usual suspects: A global analysis of global finance. Book review of: Hall S. 2017. Global Finance: Places, Spaces and People. London, Sage.

The financial crisis of 2007-08 prompted a profusion of writing across various disciplines and approaches exploring the sometimes arcane and opaque ‘black box’ of finance. Although largely originating in the subprime mortgage market of the US, the crisis quickly spread, becoming known as the global financial crisis. The self-appointed ‘masters of the universe’ of Wall Street fell from grace live on television but after a short period of penance, the largest financial firms in the international financial centres of New York and London have since returned to profitability, bigger than before having taken over ailing competitors following state bailouts. So it appeared it was back to business as usual, with the ‘real’ economy still in thrall to and disconnected from global finance (...)