Hawtrey framed central bank independence as expert rule beyond political reach.

Evidence

Monetary management, he declared, is “a technical task which is the fi eld of the expert” (ibid., 239), and thus has to be “made the subject of intensive scientifi c study of a kind that would be inappropriate to broad political decisions” (ibid.). No exception could be made regarding the requirement “to separate the central bank, as the expert body, from the executive Government” (ibid.). In Britain, Hawtrey told the reader, the separation had been fully accomplished: “the Bank of England is the property of its shareholders, and the governors and directors are responsible to no one else.” He then added: “It is thoroughly understood, however, that their position is one of trust for the public interest” (ibid.). — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1010

Categorization

• XREF: Directly parallels the modern depoliticization of monetary policy central to the reader’s austerity-as-class-weapon thesis; ties to contemporary central-bank independence debates. — connects to: Central bank independence shifted economic decision-making beyond electoral reach — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 421; Independent conservative central bankers can credibly commit against inflation where politicians cannot — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 423

Broader Connections

• Independent conservative central bankers can credibly commit against inflation where politicians cannot #responds-to (0.78) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 423