Central bank transparency has become the topic of a lively public and academic debate on monetary policy. Unfortunately …, it has been complicated by the fact that transparency is a qualitative concept that is hard to measure. This Paper … proposes a comprehensive index for central bank transparency that comprises the political, economic, procedural, policy and …

motivating decisions, simplifying external evaluation and thereby improving transparency and accountability. I also consider …

the goals of the Eurosystem, the role of exchange rate management in the EMU, and the accountability and transparency of … transparency. Inflation targeting and monetary targeting, in practice, imply similar policy decisions, but monetary targeting … the Maastricht Treaty and a possible threat to the independence of the Eurosystem. The European Parliament may have a …

independence and conservatism that produce optimal outcomes. This indeterminacy is resolved by appealing to practical … considerations. In particular, it is argued that full central bank independence facilitates the greatest degree of policy … transparency and political coherence. …

become more accountable by increasing the transparency of their lender-of-last-resort and marketmaker-of-last resort …

(ECB) to study optimal monetary policy in the Euro area (for instance Smets and Wouters, 2004a, 2004b) typically assume … price shocks. Two-country models exist at the ECB (e.g. de Walque, Smets, Wouters, 2005) but they overlook asset price … remained true for the ECB, at least so far. Using closed economy models to analyze monetary policy in the Euro is thus …

central banks because the effectiveness of monetary policy depends to a large degree on their credibility among the general … public. Using the case of the European Central Bank (ECB), the paper analyses the favorableness with which monetary policy … information communicated by the ECB. There are, however, also indications of a critical monitoring role assumed by the media …

simple interest rate rule is employed to interpret ECB policy since 1999. An evaluation of alternative policy rules across 11 … growth as the one used to interpret ECB policy is quite robust as long as it responds to current outcomes of these variables. …