The History of the Bundesbank: Lessons for the European Central Bank

After fifty years the Deutsche Bundesbank - the central bank that ruled European monetary affairs - stepped down to entrust monetary policy to the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB is largely modelled after the Bundesbank. No doubt, this has something to do with the success of the Bundesbank in keeping inflation low. What lessons can be learnt for the ECB from the experience of the Bundesbank? The Bundesbank has been, and in the near future the ECB will be, the most important macroeconomic institution for more than two decades. The essays ask formerly taboo questions such as how independent is the Bundesbank, and reveal some evidence that the bank sometimes had to trade-off political demands and price stability.