Central banks are major players in today's economic and financial policy making. While respected for their technical acumen and their pivotal role in defusing the global financial crisis, they are at the same time mistrusted by others and considered to be too powerful. In order to contribute to...

Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. From War Financier to Bankers’ Bank -- Chapter 3. Central Banks under the Gold Standard -- Chapter 4. The Federal Reserve: A Unique Institution -- Chapter 5. From War to War: 1914-1939 -- Chapter 6. Post-war Progress: 1946-1960 -- Chapter 7. The 1960s:...

"This book examines the institutional evolution of central banks from the 1970s to the crises of the past decade. In examining central banks' deviation from monetary orthodoxy, the book recasts central banks as political actors whose actions are bound to the political environment in which they...

Introduction -- Regime complexity and main argument -- Dramatis institutiones -- Euro crisis in a nutshell -- Greece 2010 -- The Troika, Ireland, and Portugal -- Spain and Italy -- United States and International Monetary Fund -- New facilities and institutions -- Greece 2012 and Cyprus 2013 --...