Now, you may ask, how important can inflation-control targets really be if the United States has consistently turned in a strong economic performance and low inflation without their benefit? The key element here is monetary policy credibility. And credibility is not necessarily tied to inflation targets. As US experience shows, a strong commitment to low inflation can do the job.
The possibility of using unwitting intermediaries for illicit transactions makes criminal organizations more dangerous. Loopholes in the rules and blind spots in the control apparatus of various countries enable illegal operators to engage in “regulatory arbitrage” on an international scale. Prevention and suppression may be further undermined by the selfinterested tolerance of some States and the opacity of some off-shore financial centres.