Somewhere in the centre of a space that contains economics, history and politics lies a need for the state to control the value of money. The competence of the government and its central bank at this intersection seems to signal something quite important about the overall capacity of a state to deal with its collective problems. The signal of a failed state seems to be closely tied up with the collapse in confidence in its monetary and financial system; so much so that some consider sound money to be the ultimate public good – supplied by the state but of use to all private agents in their ongoing attempt to make plans for a future hampered by much risk and uncertainty. This is as much true in the year of lockdown and COVID-19 as it was during the financial crisis some dozen years ago, as well as the plethora of fluctuations in economic activity that central banks are called upon to judge the appropriate policy response.