Central Bank Independence and the Westminster Model

West European Politics

Volumn 17, Issue 1, 1994, Pages 53-72

  Busch, Andreas ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84937304608     PISSN: 01402382     EISSN: 17439655     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01402389408425001     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. The treaty and the protocols can be found in Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (ed.) Europäische Gemeinschaft. Europäische Union. Die Vertragstexte von Maastricht (Bonn: Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, 1992). Here the European treaties are used according to this edition which incorporates the changes introduced by the Treaty on European Union.
2. Cf. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 5/6 Dec. 1992, p.9.
3. For the following see on France: The Economist, 16 Jan. 1993; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 22 April 1993, p.13; 12 May 1993, p.15; on Belgium: Borsenzeitung, 17 March 1993, quoted after Deutsche Bundesbank. Auszüge aus Presseartikeln, 21/ 1993, p.14 (hereafter quoted as PA), and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 22 April 1993, p.13; on Spain: Financial Times, 30 Dec. 1992, quoted after PA 1/1993, p.10. See also ‘Proyecto de ley de autonomía del Banco de España’, printed in Cinco Dias, Suplemento Especial, 5 and 6 Jan. 1993; on Portugal and Italy: Financial Times, 6 Jan. 1993 and Handelsblatt, 6 Jan. 1993, both quoted after PA 2/1993, pp.4, 5 and Handelsblatt, 16/17 April 1993, quoted after PA 28/1993, p.9.
4. E.g., Rolf Caesar, Der Handlungsspielraum von Notenbanken. Theoretische Analyse und internationaler Vergleich [= Schriften zur Monetaren Ökonomie Bd. 13], (Baden- Baden: Nomos, 1981); John T. Woolley, ‘Central Banks and Inflation’, in: Leon N. Lindberg, Charles S. Maier (eds.) The Politics of Inflation and Economic Stagnation, Theoretical Approaches and International Case Studies (Washington: Brookings Instn., 1985); Alberto Alesina, ‘Politics and business cycles in industrial democracies’, Economic Policy, 8 (April 1989), p.55–98; Andreas Busch, ‘The Politics of Price Stability: Why the German-Speaking Nations are Different’, in Francis G. Castles (ed.) Families of Nations. Patterns of Public Policy in Western Democracies, (Aider- shot: Dartmouth, 1993), pp.35–91.
5. After the reform which followed unification and led to a restructuring of the Bundesbank, no longer does each of the 16 Lander have its own central bank. There are now only nine Landeszentralbanken, which all send their Presidents to the Bundesbank Council. The nine Lander central banks are (cf. Deutsche Bundesbank, Die Deutsche Bundesbank. Geldpolitische Aufgaben und Instrumente [= Sonderdrucke der Deutschen Bundesbank No. 71] (Frankfurt/Main: Deutsche Bundesbank, 1993, 6. ed): one for Baden-Wurttemberg, one for Bavaria, one for Berlin and Brandenburg, one for Bremen, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, one for Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Westpommerania and Schleswig-Holstein, one for Hesse, one for North Rhine-Westphalia, one for Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland and lastly one for Saxony and Thuringia.
6. Cf. Deutsche Bundesbank 1993 (note 5), p.122f. and ‘Protokoll über die Satzung des Europäischen Systems der Zentralbanken und der Europäischen Zentralbank’, in Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung 1992 (note 1), p.190ff.
7. Cf. the ‘Protokoll über einige Regelungen betreffend das Vereinigte Königreich von Großbritannien und Nordirland’, Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung 1992 (note 1), p.233ff.
8. The Times, 23 Jan. 1993, quoted after PA 6/1993: 14. The article also mentions that the City now increasingly favours an independent central bank.
9. Andreas Busch, Neokonservative Wirtschaftspolitik in Groβ britannien. Vorgeschichte, Problemdiagnose, Ziele und Ergebnisse des ‘Thatcherismus’ [= Beiträge zur Politikwissenschaft, Bd. 41] (Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang, 1989), p.67.
10. Alesina, ‘Politics and business cycles in industrial democracies’ (note 4).
11. See John T. Woolley, ‘Policy Credibility and European Monetary Institutions’, in Alberta M. Sbragia (ed.) Euro-politics: Institutions and Policy-Making in the ‘New’ European Community, (Washington, DC: The Brookings Instn., 1992), pp. 157–90; and, especially for the theory of political business cycles, Alesina, ‘Politics and business cycles in industrial democracies’ (note 4).
12. For the concept of the ‘Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment’ see e.g., Paul A. Samuelson/William D. Nordhaus, Volkswirtschaftslehre. Grundlagen der Makro- und Mikroökonomie (Koln: Bund-Verlag, 1987, 8. ed), pp.347–55.
13. Douglas A. Hibbs, ‘Political Parties and Macroeconomic Policy’, The American Political Science Review 71 (1977), pp. 1467–87.
14. Alberto Alesina, ‘Macroeconomics and Politics’, in Stanley Fischer (ed.) National Bureau of Economic Research Macroeconomics Annual (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988), pp.55–98.
15. As an example see the recent lowering of the credit rating for Italian government bonds by the rating agency Moody's (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 7 May 1993, p.14).
16. Cf. Woolley, ‘Central Banks and Inflation’ (note 4), p.345 and ‘Policy Credibility and European Monetary Institutions’ (note 12).
17. Woolley, ‘Policy Credibility and European Monetary Institutions’ (note 12), p.171.
18. Alesina, ‘Macroeconomics and Politics’ (note 16) and ‘Politics and business cycles in industrial democracies’ (note 4); Busch, ‘The Politics of Price Stability’ (note 4).
19. Busch, ‘The Politics of Price-Stability’ (note 4).
20. Cf. the results of a study by Alesina and Summers from Harvard University in: ‘Central banks: America vs. Japan: The rewards of independence’, in The Economist, 25 Jan. 1992, pp.21ff.
21. For a more detailed picture of data and results see Busch, ‘The Politics of Price-Stability’ (note 4), p.37ff.
22. Andreas Busch, ‘An “Economic Miracle”? Die Wirtschaftspolitik der Regierungen Thatcher’ in Roland Sturm (ed.) Thatcherismus – Eine Bilanz nach zehn Jahren (Bochum: Brockmeyer, 1990), p.139.
23. Arend Lijphart, Democracies. Patterns of Majoritarian and Consensus Government in Twenty-One Countries (New Haven, London: Yale UP, 1984), p.8; cf. also R.M. Punnett, British Government and Politics, 5th ed. (Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1987), p.179.
24. Quoted after Joachim Jens Hesse, Arthur Benz, Die Modernisierung der Staatsorganisation. Institutionspolitik im internationalen Vergleich: USA, Groβ britannien, Frankreich, Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Baden-Baden: Nomos, 1990), p.79.
25. Philip Norton, The British Polity, 2nd ed. (London, NY: Longman, 1991), p.50f.; Lijphart, ‘Democracies’ (note 25), p.6f.
26. Norton, British Polity (note 27), p.20ff, 227f.
27. ibid., p.62f.; Hesse/Benz, ‘Die Modernisierung der Staatsorganisation’ (note 26), p.138f.
28. Hesse/Benz, ‘Die Modernisierung der Staatsorganisation’ (note 26), pp.79–86.
29. Norton, ‘The British Polity’ (note 27), p.62f.
30. Fritz W. Scharpf, ‘Die Handlungsfähigkeit des Staates am Ende des Zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts’ in Beate Kohler-Koch (ed.) Staat und Demokratie in Europa. 18. Wissenschaftlicher KongreB der Deutschen Vereinigung fur Politische Wissenschaft (Opladen: Leske & Budrich, 1992), pp.93–115.
31. cf. Hesse/Benz, ‘Die Modernisierung der Staatsorganisation’ (note 26), p.125f.
32. Punnett, ‘British Government and Politics’ (note 25), p.198f; Norton, British Polity (note 27), p.211f.
33. A.V. Dicey, Introduction to the Study of the Law of the Constitution (London: Macmillan, 1931), p.37f.
34. Oscar W. Gabriel (ed.) Die EG-Staaten im Vergleich. Strukturen, Prozesse, Politikinhalte (Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1992), p.454f.
35. Norton (note 27), p.79.
36. Busch, ‘The Politics of Price-Stability’ (note 4).
37. Lijphart, ‘Democracies’ (note 25), p.178.
38. Rudolf Wildenmann, Die Rolle des Bundesverfassungsgerichts und der Deutschen Bundesbank in der politischen Willensbildung. Ein Beitrag zur Demokratietheorie (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1969), p.10.
39. Alesina, ‘Politics and business cycles in industrial democracies’ (note 4), p.83.
40. Caesar, ‘Der Handlungsspielraum von Notenbanken’ (note 4), p.361ff.
41. Busch, ‘The Politics of Price-Stability’ (note 4).
42. For the following see Mark Swinburne, Marta Castello-Branco, Central Bank Independence: Issues and Experience [= IMF Working Paper, June 1991] (Washington DC: IMF, 1991), Robert Pringle, Interview with Don Brash, Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, in Central Banking, London, 4 June 1991, reprinted in PA 43/1991, pp. 15–16 and OECD, OECD Economic Surveys. New Zealand 1993 (Paris: OECD, 1993).
43. OECD Economic Surveys (note 46), p.46.
44. Ibid., p.47ff.
45. Quoted after Norton (note 27), p.58.
46. Lijphart, ‘Democracies’ (note 25), p.19.
47. Busch, ‘The Politics of Price-Stability’ (note 4); Peter Hall, ‘Bank's independence not the complete answer’ in The Independent, 21 Jan. 1993.
48. Communiqué of the European Community, Brussels, August 2, 1993, printed in PA 53/1993, p.1.
49. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 5 Aug. 1993, p.10.