It has, in fact, been a field of research of its own right since the mid1990s. This is reflected in the wide dissemination of Financial Stability Reports, which are now produced in more than 50 countries worldwide. Nonetheless, it is fair to say that financial stability analysis is still, to a large extent, work in progress.
To illustrate my point, let me outline briefly the kind of challenges central banks face. To begin with, financial stability is not easily measured. This is hardly surprising as, in contrast to monetary policy analysis, there is no single indicator (such as inflation) to observe. Similarly, initiatives to create some sort of an all-encompassing financial stability index have failed to convince so far.