Central Banking and Monetary Policy

Abstract

The polemic about the proper role of monetary policies and the appropriate functions of central banks, which is not a new debate by any means, has received renewed and vigorous stimulus from a number of current events. In Europe, the once Utopian project of creating a supranational central bank has become a reality: the European Central Bank was launched in mid-1998, and the introduction of the European single currency, the euro, is on schedule. In the United States and in other industrial as well as emerging markets, the debate continues about the location and the attributes of the supervisory authority, and its relations with the monetary authorities. Professional interest has also been centered again on the issue of the proper targeting for monetary policy and the matter of central-bank independence.