Central Banking in the Twentieth Century

Central Banks Are Powerful But Poorly Understood Organisations. In 1900 The Bank Of Japan Was The Only Central Bank To Exist Outside Europe But Over The Past Century Central Banking Has Proliferated. John Singleton Here Explains How Central Banks And The Profession Of Central Banking Have Evolved And Spread Across The Globe During This Period. He Shows That The Central Banking World Has Experienced Two Revolutions In Thinking And Practice, The First After The Depression Of The Early 1930s, And The Second In Response To The High Inflation Of The 1970s And 1980s. In Addition, The Central Banking Profession Has Changed Radically. In 1900 The Professional Central Banker Was A Specialised Type Of Banker, Whereas Today He Or She Must Also Be A Sophisticated Economist And A Public Official. Understanding These Changes Is Essential To Explaining The Role Of Central Banks During The Recent Global Financial Crisis-- A Beginner's Guide To Central Banking -- Very Boring Guys? -- Wind In The Willows: The Small World Of Central Banking C.1900 -- Something For Everyone: New Central Banks, 1900-1939 -- A Series Of Disasters: Central Banking, 1914-1939 -- The Mysteries Of Central Bank Cooperation -- The First Central Banking Revolution -- No Time For Cosmic Thinkers: Central Banking In The 'keynesian' Era -- Rekindling Central Bank Cooperation In The Bretton Woods Era -- The Goose That Lays The Golden Egg: Central Banking In Developing Countries -- The Horse Of Inflation -- The Second Central Banking Revolution: Independence And Accountability -- Reputations At Stake: Financial Deregulation And Instability -- Inflation Targeting: The Holy Grail? -- The Long March To European Monetary Integration -- A World With Half A Million Central Bankers. John Singleton. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 289-326) And Index. Cover 1 Frontmatter 2 Contents 8 List of illustrations 10 Acknowledgements 11 List of abbreviations 12 1 - A beginner's guide to central banking 14 2 - Very boring guys? 30 3 - Wind in the willows: the small world of central banking c. 1900 47 4 - Something for everyone: new central banks, 1900--1939 63 5 - A series of disasters: central banking, 1914--1939 82 6 - The mysteries of central bank cooperation 104 7 - The first central banking revolution 123 8 - No time for cosmic thinkers: Central banking in the `Keynesian' era 141 9 - Rekindling central bank cooperation in the Bretton Woods era 160 10 - The goose that lays the golden egg: Central banking in developing countries 178 11 - The horse of inflation 197 12 - The second central banking revolution: Independence and accountability 217 13 - Reputations at stake: financial deregulation and instability 235 14 - Inflation targeting: the holy grail? 254 15 - The long march to European monetary integration 272 16 - A world with half a million central bankers 290 References 302 Index 340 9780521899093 Machine generated contents note: 1. A beginner's guide to central banking; 2. Very boring guys?; 3. Wind in the willows: the small world of central banking c.1900; 4. Something for everyone: new central banks, 1900-39; 5. A series of disasters: central banking, 1914-39; 6. The mysteries of central bank cooperation; 7. The first central banking revolution; 8. No time for cosmic thinkers: central banking in the 'Keynesian' era; 9. Rekindling central bank cooperation in the Bretton Woods era; 10. The goose that lays the golden egg: central banking in developing countries; 11. The horse of inflation; 12. The second central banking revolution: independence and accountability; 13. Reputations at stake: financial deregulation and instability; 14. Inflation targeting: the Holy Grail?; 15. The long march to European monetary integration; 16. A world with half a million central bankers. Central banking has proliferated and radically changed over the past century. John Singleton here explains how and why this evolution has taken place and, in doing so, demonstrates that an understanding of these changes is essential to explaining the role of central banks in the recent global financial crisis.