Review

Author names and contact information.

The Chairman of the Federal Reserve System discusses how Fed openness is more than just useful in shaping better economic performance—it is an obligation of a central bank in a free and democratic society.

Authority over monetary policy has increasingly been delegated to central banks with substantially higher levels of independence than in the past.

Commentary on "Are Contemporary Central Banks Transparent About Economic Models and Objectives and What Difference Does It Make?" by Alex Cukierman.

Looking at a broad array of industrialized, transition, and emerging market economies, the authors see institutional reforms that have increased both the independence and accountability of central banks and, in addition, made monetary policy more transparent through clear public statement of instruments, methods, and objectives. 

Commentary on "Central Bank Structure, Policy Efficiency, and Macroeconomic Performance: Exploring Empirical Relationships" by Stephen G. Cecchetti and Stefan Krause.

This article investigates the extent to which market participants anticipate Federal Reserve policy actions. 

Commentary on "Market Anticipations of Monetary Policy Actions" by William Poole, Robert H. Rasche, and Daniel L. Thornton.

This article examines how monetary policy transparency is associated with inflation and output in a cross section of 87 countries. The authors use a particular concept of transparency that relates to the detail in which central banks publish economic forecasts.

Commentary on "Does It Pay to be Transparent? International Evidence From Central Bank Forecasts" by Gabriel Sterne, David Stasavage, and Georgios Chortareas.

This article examines the changes of short-term interest rates and of consumer price inflation and output gaps at different frequencies and shows that inflation targeting has reduced short-term variability in central bank interest rates and in headline inflation. The authors interpret this as evidence that inflation targeting has induced central banks to pay less attention to short-run news and noise and adopt a steadier course of monetary policy.

Commentary on "Does Inflation Targeting Matter?" by Jürgen von Hagen and Manfred J.M. Neumann.

Charles Freedman discusses transparency in the conduct of monetary policy from three perspectives: why central banks have chosen to become more transparent, measures taken by the Bank of Canada to increase transparency, and issues regarding “Are there limits to what should be made public?”