We find evidence of a bank lending channel for the euro area operating via bank risk.Financial innovation and the new ways to transfer credit risk have tended to diminishthe informational content of standard bank balance-sheet indicators. We show thatbank risk conditions, as perceived by...

In this paper we critically review the literature on the political economy of monetary policy, with aneye on the questions raised by the recent financial crisis. We begin with a discussion of rules versusdiscretion. We then examine the issue of Central Banks independence both in normal times and...