The author's unique perspective on the geographical and conceptual 'placement' of the banking industry is a compelling contribution to the contemporary debate about the industry. This compelling contribution to contemporary debates about the banking industry offers a unique perspective on its geographical and conceptual placement . It traces the evolving links between the two, revealing how our notions of banking productiveness have evolved alongside the shifting loci of banking activity. List of Figures viii List of Abbreviations ix Acknowledgments x Introduction 1 Part I Worlds Apart: Before Keynes 25 1 The Birth of Economic Productiveness 27 2 Instrumental Internationalism 57 Part II Worlds Aligned: From the Great Depression to the Eve of the Big Bang 101 3 Enclosing the Unproductive 103 4 America, and Boundaries Breached 146 Part III Co-Constituted Worlds: The Age of Financialization? 185 5 Layering the Logics of Free Trade in Banking 187 6 Anaemic Geographies of Productive Finance 229 Afterword 275 Index 282