Central banks as economic institutions The number of central banks in the world is approaching 180 a tenfold increase since the beginning of the twentieth century. What lies behind the spread of this economic institution What underlying process has brought central banks to hold such a key role in economic life today This book examines from a transatlantic perspective how the central bank has become the bank of banks. Thirteen distinguished economists and central bankers have been brought together to evaluate how central banks work arrive at their policies choose their instruments and gauge their success in managing economies both in times of crisis and periods of growth ch. 1. monetary beliefs and the power of central banks André Orléan ch. 2. Monetary policy in Germany since 1948 : national tradition international best practice or ideology Carl Ludwig Holtfrerich. ch. 3. What objectives for monetary policy Benjamin M. Friedman ch. 4. Financial stability and monetary policy : a framework Gerhard Illing ch. 5. Coordinating expectations in monetary policy Stephen Morris and Hyun Song Shin ch. 6. Central bank transparency : where why and with what effects Nazire Nergiz Dincer and Barry Eichengreen ch. 7. Global imbalances : origins consequences and possible resolutions Takatoshi Ito ch. 8. Global imbalances : a contemporary Rashomon saga Nouriel Roubini ch. 9. Round table discussion : monetary policy in the new international environment Patrick Artus ... [et al.]