The political economy of central banking : contested control and the power of finance selected essays of Gerald Epstein Central banks are among the most powerful government economic institutions in the world. This volume explores the economic and political contours of the struggle for influence over the policies of central banks such as the Federal Reserve and the implications of this struggle for economic performance and the distribution of wealth and power in society. Written over several decades by Gerald Epstein and co authors these works explore why central banks do what they do and how they could better operate. Epstein shows that central banks are a contested terrain over which major economic and political groups fight for control; and demonstrates that though in the US and most other countries private bankers have the upper hand in this political struggle they dont always win. Graduate students faculty and advanced undergraduates in economics political science and sociology who are interested in central banking and finance as well as specialists who focus on central banking will find greater understanding of central banks through The Political Economy of Central Banking Contents: Introduction Gerald Epstein Part I. Finance macroeconomic policy and central banking: from Volcker to Trump 1. Domestic stagflation and monetary policy: The Federal Reserve and the hidden election in Thomas Ferguson and Joel Rogers (eds) the hidden election: Politics and economics in the 1980 presidential campaign New York NY USA: Pantheon Books 1981 141 95 2. Federal Reserve behavior and the limits of monetary policy in the current economic crisis in Robert Cherry Christine dOnofrio Cigdem Kurdas Thomas R. Michl Fred Moseley and Michele I. Naples (eds) The imperiled economy: Book I: Macroeconomics from a left perspective chapter 23 New York NY USA: The union for radical political economics 1987 247 55 references 3. Trumponomics: Should we just say no  challenge 60 (2) 2017 104 21 Part II. Capitalists workers and Wall Street: The fight for the Federal Reserve 4. Federal Reserve politics and monetary instability in Alan Stone and Edward J. Harpham (eds) The political economy of public policy chapter 9 Beverly Hills CA USA: Sage Publications 1982 211 40 5. The Federal Reserve treasury accord and the construction of the postwar monetary regime in the United States with Juliet B. Schor social concept 7 (1) July 1995 7 48 6. monetary policy loan liquidation and industrial conflict: The Federal Reserve and the open market operations of 1932 with Thomas Ferguson Journal of economic history xliv (4) December 1984 957 83 7. Corporate profitability as a determinant of restrictive monetary policy: Estimates for the postwar United States with Juliet B. Schor in Thomas Mayer (ed.) The political economy of American monetary policy chapter 4 New York NY USA: Cambridge University Press 1990 51 63 Part III. The political economy of central banking: Analytical and empirical perspectives 8. Contested terrain in Louis Philippe Rochon and Sergio Rossi (eds) the Encyclopedia of central banking Cheltenham UK and Northampton MA USA: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd 2015 105 7 9. Macropolicy in the rise and fall of the golden age with Juliet B. Schor in Stephen A. Marglin and Juliet B. Schor (eds) The golden age of capitalism: Reinterpreting the postwar experience chapter 3 Oxford UK: Clarendon Press 1990 126 52 references 10. Political economy and comparative central banking review of radical political economics 24 (1) March 1992 1 30 11 A political economy model of comparative central banking in Gary Dymski and Robert Pollin (eds) New perspectives in monetary macroeconomics: Explorations in the tradition of Hyman P. Minsky chapter 9 Ann Arbor MI USA: The University of Michigan Press 1994 231 77 12. Profit squeeze rentier squeeze and macroeconomic policy under fixed and flexible exchange rates economies et sociétés 25 (3) November December 1991 219 57 13. The rise of rentier incomes in OECD countries: Financialization central bank policy and labor solidarity with Arjun Jayadev in Gerald A. Epstein (ed.) Financialization and the world economy chapter 3 Cheltenham UK and Northampton MA USA: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd 2005 46 74 Part IV. Inflation targeting vs. Developmental central banking 14. Financialization rentier interests and central bank policy 2002 1 43 15. Central banks as agents of economic development Ha Joon Chang (ed.) Institutional change and economic development chapter 6 New York NY USA: United Nations University Press and London UK: Anthem Press 2007 95 113 16 Developmental central banking: Winning the future by updating a page from the past review of Keynesian economics 1 (3) Autumn 2013 273 87 17. Achieving coherence between macroeconomic and development objectives in Joseph E. Stiglitz and Martin Guzman (eds) contemporary issues in macroeconomics: Lessons from the crisis and beyond IEA conference volume 155 ii chapter 11 Basingstoke UK and New York NY USA Palgrave Macmillan 2016 148 59 Part V. The Federal Reserve and the great financial crisis of 2007 2008 18. Have large scale asset purchases increased bank profits with Juan Antonio Montecino Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) working paper no. 5 December 2014 1 25 19. The political economy of QE and the Fed: Who gained who lost and why did it end with Juan Antonio Montecino Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) working paper number 408 November 2015 1 25 20. The impact of quantitative easing on income inequality in the United States November 2018 Part VI. Reforming the Federal Reserve 21. Statement on monetary policy testimony prepared for the House Committee on Banking Finance and Urban Affairs July 19th 1983 1 11 22. A debate with Robert Pollin: Should Congress control the Federal Reserve with Robert Pollin Dollars & sense 136 May 1988 12 17 22 23. Reforming the Federal Reserve for the 21st century 2018 Index.