Monetary Policy

The Clearing House: Banking Perspectives

Since the financial crisis, the world’s major central banks have accumulated much more power. Is that OK? Does it fit with our democratic values? The delegation of power by legislatures surely needs to do so if central bank independence, and even confidence in our system of government itself, is to be sustained. More

I have been asked to say something about the future of European finance. Since I cannot remotely predict how things will turn out, I shall instead sketch some of the forces that will shape the environment for the European financial system over the next couple of decades. Rather than attempting to be exhaustive, I will concentrate on four areas in which politics is intertwined with policy: the legacy and longevity of the crisis; the geopolitics of the evolving world system; the fragilities in the European monetary and credit system; and the problems inherent in a rules-based regulatory regime. That leaves out technological change, but will be more than enough to ground my central points. More