Over decades, if not centuries, the reputation of central banks has gone through ups and downs. The Great Moderation marked a period in which inflation came down from rather high levels. Growth and employment were at least satisfying and output variability declined substantially. Was this...

Whilst the debate on the merits of adopting the euro rage on in the UK, comparatively little attention is paid to the way in which the ECB is managing monetary policy in the euro zone. This analysis describes the success of the first five years of the euro's life. Not only has price stability...

Central bank independence is now in vogue because of previous experience of politicisation of monetary policy. But can the central bankers be trusted more than the politicians? In this Occasional Paper, Professor Otmar Issing, the leading monetary economist and one of Europe's most influential...

"Institutional Overburdening" to a large extent was a consequence of the "Great Moderation". This term indicates that it was a period in which inflation had come down from rather high levels. Growth and employment were at least satisfying and variability of output had substantially declined. It...