Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T18:04:12.543Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - An Analysis of Central Bank Decision-Making

from IV - MPC Process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2024

Sean Holly
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Michael McMahon
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Stephen Millard
Affiliation:
National Institute of Economic and Social Research
Anna Watson
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Get access

Summary

This chapter compares the decision-making process of the Bank of England to that of the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve. The move towards making monetary policy decisions via committees coincided with the shift to central bank independence. This was a natural consequence of central banks no longer taking orders from their governments but being given the operational independence. Members of committees then needed to pool the information that would help them make good decisions in uncertain circumstances – a necessary step when performing complex tasks like monetary policy. The move towards central bank independence was crucial to ensure politically independent and goal-oriented conduct of monetary policy. The more long-term orientation and objectivity of monetary policy’s goals – contrasting with the shorter-term nature of political cycles and political bias to inflate the economy – proved beneficial to price stability, with more credible signals helping to manage inflation expectations

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Badinger, Harald and Nitsch, Volker (2011), ‘National representation in multinational institutions: The case of the European Central Bank’. Working Paper No. 3573. CESifo Working Papers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennani, Ham, Kranz, Tobias and Neuenkirch, Matthias (2018), ‘Disagreement between FOMC members and the Fed’s staff: New insights based on a counterfactual interest rate’, Journal of Macroeconomics. 58, 139–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, Helge, Nitsch, Volker and Lybek, Tonny (2008), ‘Central bank boards around the world: Why does membership size differ?European Journal of Political Economy. 24(4), 817–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernanke, Ben S. (2010), ‘Central bank independence, transparency, and accountability’. In Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies International Conference. Bank of Japan, Tokyo. www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20100525a.htm.Google Scholar
Blinder, Alan S. (2007), ‘Monetary policy by committee: Why and how?European Journal of Political Economy. 23(1), 106–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claeys, Gregory and Linta, Tanja (2019), ‘The evolution of the ECB governing council’s decision-making | Bruegel’. June 2019. www.bruegel.org/2019/06/the-evolution-of-the-ecb-governing-councils-decision-making/.Google Scholar
Downward, Paul and Mearman, Andrew (2007), ‘Decision-making at the Bank of England: A critical appraisal’, Oxford Economic Papers. 60(October), 385409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehrmann, Michael and Fratzscher, Marcel (2007), ‘Communication by central bank committee members: Different strategies, same effectiveness?Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. 39(2–3), 509–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eichler, Stefan, Lähner, Tom and Noth, Felix (2018), ‘Regional banking instability and FOMC voting’, Journal of Banking and Finance. 87, 282–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerlach-Kristen, Petra (2009), ‘Outsiders at the Bank of England’s MPC’, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. 41(6), 1099–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haldane, Andy (2020), ‘What has central bank independence ever done for us?’ In UCL Economists’ Society Economics Conference. www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/speech/2020/what-has-central-bank-independence-ever-done-for-us-speech-by-andy-haldane.pdf.Google Scholar
Hansen, Stephen, McMahon, Michael and Rivera, Carlos Velasco (2014), ‘Preferences or private assessments on a monetary policy committee?Journal of Monetary Economics. 67, 1632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Stephen and McMahon, Michael (2016), Understanding the macroeconomic effects of central bank communication. Journal of International Economics. 99(S1), S114S133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, Mark N. and Spencer, Christopher (2009), ‘The policy choices and reaction functions of Bank of England MPC members’, Southern Economic Journal. 76(2), 482–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, Mark N., Levine, Paul and Spencer, Christopher (2011), ‘A decade of dissent: Explaining the dissent voting behavior of Bank of England MPC members’, Public Choice. 146(3), 413–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maier, Philipp (2010), ‘How central banks take decisions: An analysis of monetary policy meetings’, in Siklos, Pierre L., Bohl, Martin T. and Wohar, Mark E. (eds.), Challenges in Central Banking, 320–56. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Malmendier, Ulrike, Nagel, Stefen and Yan, Zhen (2021), ‘The making of hawks and doves’. Journal of Monetary Economics. 117, 1942.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riboni, Alessandro and Ruge-Murcia, Francisco J (2010), ‘Monetary policy by committee: Consensus, chairman dominance or simple majority?The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 125(1), 363416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rieder, Kilian (2022), ‘Monetary policy decision-making by committee: Why, when and how it can work’, European Journal of Political Economy. 72(2), 102091.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, Peter (1998), ‘The Bank of England Act’, Quarterly Bulletin, Q2, Bank of England. 93–99.Google Scholar
Smales, Lee A. and Apergis, Nick (2016), ‘The influence of FOMC member characteristics on the monetary policy decision-making process’. Journal of Banking & Finance. 64(March), 216–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornton, Daniel L. and Wheelock, David C. (2014), ‘Making sense of dissents: A history of FOMC dissents’, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review. 96(3), 213–27.Google Scholar
Tucker, Paul (2008), ‘Remarks on “making monetary policy by committee”’, Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin. 48(3), 347–50.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×