Chapter 1. Central Bank Autonomy: A Historical Perspective -- Chapter 2. The Autonomy of Monetary Authorities: The Case of the U.S. Federal Reserve System -- 1 The Two Banks of the United States, 1791-1836 -- 2 The Independent Treasury System, 1840-1914 -- 3 The Federal Reserve System, 1914-Present -- 4 The Independence of the Fed -- 4.1 Subservience to the Treasury during World War I -- 4.2 The Great Depression: Failure and Reform -- 4.3 Subservience to the Treasury Again: World War II and After -- 4.4 The Treasury-Fed Accord of 1951 -- 4.5 The Controversial 1965 Discount Rate Increase -- 4.6 Partisan Monetary Politics? The 1972 Election -- 4.7 Congressional Oversight, 1975 -- 4.8 1979: Changes in Fed Operating Procedures -- 4.9 Pressure from the Supply Side, 1981-1985 -- 5 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 3. The Bank of England: Relationships with the Government, the Civil Service, and Parliament -- 1 Historical -- 1.1 The Period before the Nationalisation in 1946 -- 1.2 After Nationalisation -- 2 Analytical -- 2.1 The Legal Position and the Working Relationship -- 2.2 The Working Relationship -- 3 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 4. The Banque de France and the State from 1850 to the Present Day -- 1 The Problems of Being a Historian -- 2 The Manifold and Complex Factors that Determine Relations Between the State and the Banque de France -- 3 New Developments from 1850 to 1936 -- 3.1 The Development of State Control in the 19th Century -- 3.2 The Ups and Downs of the Period 1920 to 1936 -- 4 Change and Continuity from 1936 to the 1980s -- 4.1 1936-1944 -- 4.2 1945-1986 -- References -- Chapter 5. Relations between Monetary Authorities and Governmental Institutions: The Case of Germany from the 19th Century to the Present -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The Historical Evolution -- 2.1 From the Foundation of the Reich to the First World War.

2.2 From the Beginning of the First World War to the End of Germany's Great Inflation 1923 -- 2.3 From the End of Hyperinflation to the End of the Weimar Republic -- 2.4 The Nazi Period (1933-1945) -- 2.5 From 1945 to the Present -- 3 Conclusion: The Prime Motives for the Legal Changes in Relations between Germany's Central Bank and Government and a Summary of Arguments Pro and Con the Bank's Autonomy -- References -- Chapter 6. A Central Bank Between the Government and the Credit System: The Bank of Italy after World War II -- Introduction -- 1 Credit Legislation and the Bank of Italy -- 2 The Bank of Italy's Structural Superversion and the Evolution of the Financial System -- 2.1 Alternative Views on the Financial Structure -- 2.2 The Development of the Structure of the Credit System under Menichella -- 2.3 The Rationale of the Bank of Italy's Choices with Regard to the Structure of the Credit System in the Period 1948-59 -- 2.4 The Early Sixties and the Start of Carli's Governorship -- 2.5 Carli and the Structure of the Financial System -- 2.6 The Structure of the Financial System and the Relationship with the Government -- 2.7 Monetary Versus "Real" Policy Making -- 2.8 The Change in Strategy During the Seventies -- 3 The Major Monetary Policy Choices -- 3.1 Monetary Policy Between 1947 and 1960 -- 3.2 From 1964 to 1973 -- 3.3 From 1973 to the Present -- 4 From (Italian) History to (General) Theory -- References -- About the Authors.