During the turbulent 1970s and 1980s the Bundesbank established an outstanding reputation in the world of central banking. Germany achieved a high degree of domestic stability and provided safe haven for investors in times of turmoil in the international financial system. Eventually the...

Post-crisis spillovers and heightened capital flows have triggered a search for alternative monetary policy frameworks, especially for small open emerging economies. The Turkish experience since end-2010 sets out an interesting case in this respect. Faced with extreme volatility in cross-border...

Monetary policy rules have been considered as fundamental protection against inflation. However, empirical evidence for a correlation between monetary commitment to rules and price stability is relatively weak. We discuss likely causes for this weak link and argue that monetary commitment is not...

Through an investigation of selected jurisdictions, this paper aims to contribute to the extant literature in investigating the relationship between central bank independence and price stability, as well as how such a relationship varies between different jurisdictions – even though it is...

Since 1 January 1999 the European Central Bank (ECB) has had sole responsibility for monetary policy in the euro area. Its main aim is to maintain price stability over the medium term. It is completely independent. The ECB has been successful in maintaining price stability and well-anchored...

Monetary policy frameworks in the Asia and Pacific region have performed well in the past decade as judged by inflation outcomes. We argue that this is due to three principal factors : (i) central banks have focused on price stability as the primary objective of monetary policy, (ii)...

The Bank of Canada should pay closer attention to the effects of money and credit growth on inflation and asset markets. The authors contend that maintaining price stability should remain the Bank’s only formal goal, but say greater attention should be paid to asset market stability. Once the...

A difference-in-difference approach was used to investigate whether Central Bank Indepencence (CBI) reforms matter for inflation, based on a novel data set including the possible occurence of such reforms in 132 countries during the period 1980-2003. CBI-reforms are found to have contributed to...

The degree of international risk sharing matters for how monetary policy should optimally be conducted in an open economy. This is because risk sharing affects the way in which monetary policy is affected by terms of trade considerations. In a standard two-country model with monopolistic...

The past few years have witnessed a trend of increased delegation of authority to central banks. Increasing central bank independence is a recommended strategy for governments to establish a credible commitment to price stability as the final objective of the monetary authority, even at the cost...