Strategy and Tactics of Monetary Policy: Examples From Europe and the Antipodes

Most central banks in Europe and elsewhere have been giving priority to the achievement of price stability for more than a decade. ~ In recent years, this effort has been reinforced by a marked trend toward giving central banks much more autonomy to pursue this goal. Both the objective of achieving price stability and such autonomy have, in a sizable number of countries, now been constitutionally incorporated in newly revised legislation. In countries where no such legislation has been enacted, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, proposals to do so remain very much on the present political agenda.2 Such legislative moves towards greater autonomy ("independence") have been so widespread and rapid that it’ app’ears worthwhile to try to document the present position. This paper will concentrate mostly on developments in Europe, since this is the region with which