The financial unravelling of the past three years has cast doubt on some certainties of orthodox economics. Central-bank independence is one. Before 2008, the idea that central banks should be shielded from politics, given an anti-inflation mandate, then left to run monetary policy as they saw fit was little doubted - by economists, anyway. In 2010 this looks neither desirable nor even possible. Governments and central banks would rather avoid a proper discussion of this sensitive subject. But in the light of all that has happened, whether central banks should be above politics is a question that needs a fundamental rethink.
過去3年的金融動蕩已經讓人們對一些正統經濟學理論的確定性產生了懷疑。央行獨立性就是其中之一。在2008年以前，人們認為，央行應該不受政治的影響，應該被賦予控制通脹的職權，任由它們以自己認為合適的方式管理貨幣政策。很少有人懷疑這種觀點——至少對經濟學家而言。2010年，這種觀點看上去既不可取又不現實。各國政府和央行寧愿回避對這個敏感話題進行嚴肅的討論。但鑒于已經發生的一切，央行是否應該凌駕于政治之上，成為一個需要從根本上重新考慮的問題。