Central Banks in the Age of the Euro

Professor Kenneth Dyson is Research Professor in European Politics in the School of European Studies, Cardiff University, Wales. He is a Fellow of the British Academy; an Academician of the Learned Societies of the Social Sciences; and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He was awarded the German Federal Service Cross (first class) and is co-editor of the journal 'German Politics'. He chaired the European Studies Panel in the UK Research Assessment Exercises (RAE) in 1996 and 2001 and was a former chair of the Standing Conference of Heads of European Studies (SCHES) and of the Association for the Study of German Politics.

• 1. The Age of the Euro: A Structural Break? Europeanization, Power and Convergence in Central Banking ; PART I: THE CHANGING CONTEXT OF CENTRAL BANKING ; 2. 2. Differentiation in the European System of Central Banks: Circles, Core, and Directoire 2. Differentiation in the European System of Central Banks: Circles, Core, and Directoire ; 3. The European Central Bank: The Bank That Rules Europe? ; PART II: EUROSYSTEM 'INSIDER' CENTRAL BANKS ; 4. National Banks of Belgium and of the Netherlands: Gaining Power ; 5. Bank of France: The Challenge of Escaping Politicization ; 6. German Bundesbank: Europeanization and the Paradoxes of Power ; 7. Bank of Greece: Latecomer, Uphill Adjustment ; 8. Bank of Italy: Between Europeanization and Globalization ; PART III: 'TEMPORARY' OUTSIDERS: PACE SETTERS AND LAGGARDS ; 9. Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia: Banking on Identity ; 10. 10. Czech Republic and Poland: The Limits of Europeanization ; PART IV: 'SEMI-PERMANENT' OUTSIDERS ; 11. Bank of England: Learning to Live with the Euro ; 12. Denmark and Sweden: Networking by Euro-Outsiders ; PART V: LESSONS FROM NON-EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANKS ; 13. The Political Economy of Central Bank Credibility and Legitimacy in Australia and New Zealand ; 14. The US Federal Reserve and the Politics of Monetary and Financial Regulatory Policies ; PART VI: CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE ; 15. Financial Supervision: Internationalization, Europeanization and Power ; 16. Monetary Policy Strategies ; 17. 'Scientization' of Central Banking: The Politics of A-Politicization ; 18. Transparency and Accountability

There are some real gems here. The chapter by Charles Goodhart on how the Bank of England prepared for the introduction of the euro has some very interesting insights into internal attitudes... Ivo Maes has written a typically erudite discussion of the national Bank of Belgium... David Howarth, who has taken on the central role of dealing with the ECB, provides a well-judged analysis.