The past century saw unprecedented rises in life expectancy and living standards. It also witnessed major structural changes, the rise of "big government" and two globalizations. Yet, the century's economic history was marred by policy and market failures resulting in a massive world-wide...

The focus of the present volume - which originates from a workshop held at the Bank of Italy on 16 and 17 April 2009 - is the regulatory response given to financial crises in the past, across countries. Alongside the scholarly interest of such a review its aim is also to offer some insights that...

The paper comprises a thorough survey of the literature on growth in Western Europe since 1950. This experience is put in the context both of long-run historical trends and the ideas emanating from recent work in growth economics. The exceptional nature of the Golden Age (c.1950-73) is confirmed...

Intro -- Chapter 1. Central Bank Autonomy: A Historical Perspective -- Chapter 2. The Autonomy of Monetary Authorities: The Case of the U.S. Federal Reserve System -- 1 The Two Banks of the United States, 1791-1836 -- 2 The Independent Treasury System, 1840-1914 -- 3 The Federal Reserve System,...