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:...

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...

Prologue: "With devouring fury" -- "Large, wild, fiery, black" -- "In mirth and refutation; in ridicule and laughter" -- "Vive la guillotine" -- The literary banker -- "The ruin inflicted on innocent creditors" -- "The young gentleman out of Miss Austen's novels" -- A death in India -- The...