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Central bank independence in a historical perspective. Myth, lessons and a new model

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  • Blancheton, Bertrand

Abstract

This article puts the independence of central banks into historical perspective. In doing so, it underlines the highly versatile nature of the balance of forces between central banks and governments. From this viewpoint, the situation of public finances emerges as a key explanatory factor, and an analysis of the sequence of central banking models is proposed from the late 19th century to the present day. The article upholds the thesis of the emergence, since the subprime crisis, of a new model qualified as “tacit low-degree independence”: central banks have, of their own volition, given up some of their de facto independence, helping governments to contain the rise in national debt. But while keeping a step ahead of pressure from governments, they have lost the control of money supply.

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  • Blancheton, Bertrand, 2016. "Central bank independence in a historical perspective. Myth, lessons and a new model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PA), pages 101-107.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:52:y:2016:i:pa:p:101-107
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2015.02.027
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Masciandaro, Donato & Romelli, Davide, 2015. "Ups and downs of central bank independence from the Great Inflation to the Great Recession: theory, institutions and empirics," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(3), pages 259-289, December.
    2. Ftiti, Zied & Aguir, Abdelkader & Smida, Mounir, 2017. "Time-inconsistency and expansionary business cycle theories: What does matter for the central bank independence–inflation relationship?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 215-227.
    3. MARTÍNEZ-RUIZ, Elena & NOGUES-MARCO, Pilar, 2018. "The Political Economy of Exchange Rate Stability During the Gold Standard. Spain 1874—1914," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-75, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
    4. Garriga, Ana Carolina & Rodriguez, Cesar M., 2020. "More effective than we thought: Central bank independence and inflation in developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 87-105.
    5. Stephanos Papadamou & Moïse Sidiropoulos & Eleftherios Spyromitros, 2017. "Is There a Role for Central Bank Independence on Public Debt Dynamics?," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 7(1), pages 1-6.
    6. Jay Pil Choi & Taiji Furusawa & Jota Ishikawa, 2018. "Transfer Pricing and the Arm's Length Principle under Imperfect Competition," CESifo Working Paper Series 7303, CESifo.
    7. Miranda Escolar, Belen & Fernández Arufe, Josefa E., 2018. "Economía conductual, irracionalidad e incertidumbre en la Unión Europea/Behavioral Economics, Irrationality, Uncertainty and European Union," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 36, pages 49-66, Enero.
    8. Nurlan Turdaliev, 2019. "Heterogeneity and monetary policy," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 119-145, October.
    9. Jakub Bureš, 2017. "Herding Behaviour of Central Banks: Following the Fed and ECB," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 3(1), pages 21-28, October.
    10. Moiseev, S., 2018. "The Independence of Central Bank: Concept, Methods and Impact of Global Financial Crisis," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 40(4), pages 110-136.
    11. Martínez-Ruiz, Elena & Nogues-Marco, Pilar, 2017. "The political economy of exchange rate stability during the gold standard. The case of Spain, 1874-1914," Working Papers unige:91510, University of Geneva, Paul Bairoch Institute of Economic History.
    12. Ludovic Desmedt & Matthieu Llorca, 2016. "L’euro, le bourdon et le banquier central," Post-Print hal-01430375, HAL.
    13. Papadamou, Stephanos & Sidiropoulos, Moïse & Spyromitros, Eleftherios, 2017. "Does central bank independence affect stock market volatility?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 855-864.
    14. Stephanos Papadamou & Moïse Sidiropoulos & Eleftherios Spyromitros, 0. "Is There a Role for Central Bank Independence on Public Debt Dynamics?," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 0, pages 6.

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