The Bundesbank is one of the world's most powerful and successful central banks, outstanding for its independence in the conduct of monetary policy and for its success in the achievement of relative price stability virtually throughout the post-war era. This collection of essays by the President of the Bundesbank, by former and present Board members and by Heads of Department within the Bundesbank offer a rare inside insight into its operations. The individual contributions to this volume explain the historical, legal and institutional basis of German internal and external monetary policy and highlight the goals of the German central bank and its role in the economy as a whole. The role of the Deutschmark as one of the leading international transaction, reserve and investment currencies is discussed in detail. Students of monetary management and the banking community throughout the world will benefit greatly from a study of this unique volume.

The global economy is climbing out from the depths to which it had plummeted during the Great Lockdown in April. But with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to spread, many countries have slowed reopening and some are reinstating partial lockdowns to protect susceptible populations. While recovery in China has been faster than expected, the global economy’s long ascent back to pre-pandemic levels of activity remains prone to setbacks.

This update of the guidelines published in 2001 sets forth the underlying framework for the Reserves Data Template and provides operational advice for its use. The updated version also includes three new appendices aimed at assisting member countries in reporting the required data.

This chapter reviews recent economic developments and economic prospects in which the emergence of the principal imbalances is traced, and their persistent character highlighted in the Federal Republic of Germany. On macroeconomic policies, while one might quibble about the rate of expansion of the money supply or the timing of tax reduction and reform, the paper does not find major errors in the formulation or implementation of policies that would account for the principal economic imbalances. The need to reduce rules and regulations, which act to limit the flexibility and dynamism of the German economy, has been reinforced by the objective of fully liberalizing trade in services within the European Community by 1992. The banking industry is exempt from the provisions of the antitrust law, which prohibits restraints on competition, price collusion, and other collusive agreements. Among economists, there is a broad agreement that structural reforms in Germany would greatly improve economic performance and contribute to external adjustment.

The 2008 financial crisis led to more and more frequent political attacks on central banks. The recent spotlight on central bank independence is reminiscent of the fiery debates amongst Germany's political elites in 1949 on the same issue; debates that were sparked by the establishment of West Germany in that year. Simon Mee shows how, with the establishment of West Germany's central bank - today's Deutsche Bundesbank - the country's monetary history became a political football, as central bankers, politicians, industrialists and trade unionists all vied for influence over the legal provisions that set out the remit of the future monetary authority. The author reveals how a specific version of inter-war history, one that stresses the lessons learned from Germany's periods of inflation, was weaponised and attached to a political, contemporary argument for an independent central bank. The book challenges assumptions around the evolution of central bank independence with continued relevance today.

The central idea of this book is the concept of a currency order. Monetary theory is developed as a theory of currency orders. The book expands the neoclassical theory of currency orders. This new way of looking at the problems permits a general view of the subject matter of monetary theory and policy which so far does not exist. The concept of transaction costs is used throughout. The book deals not only with the theories of the demand for and the supply of money, the banking firm, and the purchasing power of money. It also presents a theoretically based discussion of the great topics of monetary policy of our time: fixed vs. flexible exchange rates, gold vs. paper, rules vs. authority for the central banks, governmental currency monopoly vs. competition of private currencies, regulation vs. deregulation of commercial banks. The book is suitable as a text for students with a knowledge of money and banking and intermediate microeconomics. It offers a consistent and well-written presentation of the subject matter, as well as an extensive list of further readings.