Central Banking in Theory and Practice (Lionel Robbins Lectures)

Central Banking in Theory and Practice (Lionel Robbins Lectures)
Alan S. Blinder | 1999-01-29 00:00:00 | The MIT Press | 108 | Economics
"This brief exposé of central banking and monetary policy. . . should be required reading for all those, specialists and nonspecialists alike, interested in those subjects." -- Manuel Guitián, Finance and Development

Alan S. Blinder offers the dual perspective of a leading academic macroeconomist who served a stint as Vice-Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board--one who practiced what he had long preached and then returned to academia to write about it. He tells central bankers how they might better incorporate academic knowledge and thinking into the conduct of monetary policy, and he tells scholars how they might reorient their research to be more attuned to reality and thus more useful to central bankers.

Based on the 1996 Lionel Robbins Lectures, this readable book deals succinctly, in a nontechnical manner, with a wide variety of issues in monetary policy. The book also includes the author's suggested solution to an age-old problem in monetary theory: what it means for monetary policy to be "neutral."
Reviews
Easy read, gives some insight to one of the former FED staffers. Proves that there is no magic to our money, just gut reaction and formulas. No one really know's what to do
Reviews
Mr R. S. Ritterman (San Mateo, CA) beat me to it... I had logged on to describe just how clear and understandable (not to mention brilliant and profound) this book is. Case in point: instead of simply telling us in words how central bankers evaluate their objectives before making policy decisions, Mr Blinder uses beautifully contructed clever-clogs math to make his point concise. Greenspan gets all the credit, but I assure you it was Blinder who was the real brains behind the operation. I thought about deducting one star because they didn't get the fed funds rate right - by his own admission - in 1990, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.



Students of philosophy will be talking about this gem for hundreds of years.



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Reviews
After having taken Macroeconomic Theory, Alan Blinder's book was extremely clear and understandable. His comments about Central Banking behavior make wonderful sense as he takes into account both academic and real world theaters. He was especially clairvoyant in his reasoning about why a Central Bank needs to establish credibility. A definite recommendation for those interested in the Federal Reserve and what they do.
Reviews
Nothing fancy, but a good testimony from a real central banker about how real central banking has been carried out in recent US history. It is much less glamorous than all the theories, models and arguments would have it. Logical, sensible and even-tempered, like a central banker. A small book easily read in an evening that brings a lot down to earth. Only four stars because nothing this reasonable deserves five.

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