Summary In this paper, we provide some reflections on the development of monetary theory and monetary policy over the last 150 years. Rather than presenting an encompassing overview, which would be overambitious, we simply concentrate on a few selected aspects that we view as milestones in the...

This article is a revised English translation of the Thunen Lecture, given at the Annual Congress of the Verein fur Socialpolitik, September 29, 2004, in Dresden, Germany.