It also makes a central banker’s job interesting and attractive for academics. Has independence helped in containing inflation? The decline in trend inflation worldwide is in part explained by monetary policy in many countries being geared towards price stability, which is enhanced by the increasing independence of central banks in achieving their goals.
Globalisation will have played a supportive role, but, in the final analysis, it is monetary policy that is responsible for medium to long-term inflation outcomes. Academic research has contributed in important ways to such a consensus view. Take as examples the rational expectations revolution, the literature on time inconsistency, and the empirical research on the macroeconomic outcomes of central bank independence.