Introduction: the new political economy of central banks: reluctant Atlases?

After gaining independence from political authorities, the past decades, central banks in most of the Global North and some in the Global South have taken on additional goals, acquiring unprecedented powers, many of them in response to crises and a lack of forceful action by the political authorities. Central banks have also been confronted with new issues, such as the greening of the economy and digital finance. They have rediscovered ‘old’ roles – i.e. acting as lender of last resort, overseeing payment systems, supervising banks, issuing currencies (in a digital format) – and have taken on new roles. These roles include: ‘crisis managers’ of first resort, backstopping banks, non-banks, states and fellow central banks; ‘recession fighters’ of second resort as well as ‘quasi’ fiscal authorities; supporters of the green and digital transition; ‘sui generis diplomats’ fostering international cooperation, while behaving as hesitant ‘geoeconomic actors’ in an increasingly geopoliticised world. In the ‘new political economy of central banking’, these institutions can be seen as ‘reluctant Atlases’, at times, suffering from a lack of connection to central fiscal authorities (experiencing ‘loneliness’) and goal overstretching. Recent geopolitical turmoil presents new challenges to the liberal international order to which central banks are still seeking to respond.