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The Historical Evolution of Central Banking

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  • Stefano Ugolini

    (LEREPS - Laboratoire d'Etude et de Recherche sur l'Economie, les Politiques et les Systèmes Sociaux - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - UT2J - Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès - UT - Université de Toulouse - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Toulouse - ENSFEA - École Nationale Supérieure de Formation de l'Enseignement Agricole de Toulouse-Auzeville)

Abstract

"Central banking" is what a central bank does, but the definition of "central bank" is less straightforward than it may appear at first sight. Following Ugolini (2017), this chapter defines central banking as the provision of public policies aimed at fostering monetary and financial stability, and surveys the historical evolution of such policies in the West from the Middle Ages to today. It shows that institutional equilibria mattered a lot in shaping the way stabilization policies were implemented: central banking evolved in markedly distinct ways in city states (like Venice, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Barcelona, or Genoa), centralized territorial polities (like Naples, Sweden, England, Austria, or France), or decentralized territorial polities (like the United States or the European Union). As a result, the historical evolution of central banking does not appear to have been driven by the "survival of the fittest", but rather by the constant adaptation of policymaking to changing political economy equilibria.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefano Ugolini, 2018. "The Historical Evolution of Central Banking," Post-Print hal-01887004, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01887004
    DOI: 10.1007/978-981-10-0622-7_31-1
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://univ-tlse2.hal.science/hal-01887004
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    2. Masciandaro, Donato & Goodhart, Charles & Ugolini, Stefano, 2021. "Pandemic recession and helicopter money: Venice, 1629–1631," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(3), pages 300-318, December.
    3. Ábel, István & Losoncz, Miklós, 2022. "A pénzelmélet megújulása válságok idején [The renewal of monetary theory in times of crisis]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(4), pages 451-479.
    4. Ghassan, Hassan B., 2016. "Re-examining the equation of exchange according to Shariah rationale money," MPRA Paper 91666, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jul 2018.
    5. Paweł Kowalewski, 2023. "RECENZJA KSIĄŻKI - Anne L. Murphy, Virtuous Bankers: A Day in the Life of the Late Eighteenth-Century Bank of England," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 54(5), pages 1-1.

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