Monetary Theory and Monetary Policy: Reflections on the Development over the last 150 Years

In this paper, we provide some reflections on the development of monetary theory and monetary policy over the last 150 years. Rather than presenting an encompassing overview, which would be overambitious, we simply concentrate on a few selected aspects that we view as milestones in the development of this subject.We also try to illustrate some of the interactions with the political and financial system, academic discussion and the views and actions of central banks.