Monetary policy is still one of the most contested areas of modern economics, and since the original publication of Policy Makers on Policy much has changed. This new edition collects contributions from leading policy makers and practitioners to reflect on the aims and objectives of monetary policy and on what it can achieve, combining the old chapters from Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Kenneth Clarke, Geoffrey Howe, Nigel Lawson, and others, with new perspectives from Mervyn King, Jean-Claude Trichet, Ernst Welteke, Otmar Issing, and Alastair Darling.

A new far-reaching introduction from the editors Forrest Capie and Geoffrey Wood puts these important contributions to the discussion of economic policy in the new context. They look at what lessons can be learnt from the earlier discussions, what anticipations of present difficulties can be found in them and what, in other words, the comparatively recent past teaches us about how to deal with the turbulent present.

The second edition of Policy Makers on Policy brings together otherwise inaccessible commentaries and reflections on policy by those involved in making it, along with a commentary on and context for their remarks. Thus the book will be of great interest and use to students of economics and politics, and indeed anyone with an interest in current economic developments and their roots in the past.

Reviews

From the first edition:

"These writers offer tremendous insights into the information by bringing together the views of a broad range of leading policy makers and practitioners." - Business Horizons, 2002

Contents

1. Introduction: Twenty-Five Years of Monetary Policy Forrest Capie and Geoffrey Wood Part 1 2. Reflections on the Conduct of Monetary Policy The Rt Hon Gordon Richardson 3. Objectives of Monetary Policy: Past and Present Lord Robbins of Clare Market 4. The Fight against Inflation The Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Howe QC MP 5. The Instruments of Monetary Policy The Rt Hon Robin Leigh-Pemberton 6. Monetary Policy: Practice Ahead of Theory Mais Lecture 2005 Mervyn King 7. Monetary Policy in Britain and Europe Eddie George 8. Financial and Monetary Integration: Benefits, Opportunities and Pitfalls Hans Tietmeyer 9. Reflections on European Monetary Policy Ernst Welteke 10. The ECB and The Euro: The First Five Years Otmar Issing Part 3: 11. The Process of European Financial Integration Claude Trichet 12. The British Experiment The RT Hon Nigel Lawson MP 13. The Economic Framework for New Labour The RT Hon Tony Blair 14. The Conditions for Full Employment The Rt Hon Gordon Brown 15. Maintaining Stability in a Global Economy Alistair Darling Part 4 16. A New Economic Model George Osborne 17. Benefits and Costs: Securing the Future of Social Security The Rt Hon Peter Lilley MP 18. The Changing World of Work in the 1990s The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP 19. Some Presumptions of Economic Liberalism Sir Samuel Brittan 20. Markets, Governments and Virtues Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
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