One strand emphasizes that monetary policy is a blunt instrument affecting activity across a wide variety of sectors, many of which may not be experiencing speculative activity. To dampen speculative bubbles may require substantial changes in interest rates, which may hurt unaffected sectors. So in principle, it is better to use macro-prudential measures to counter financial imbalances, rather than monetary policy.
Concluding remarks Already forty years ago, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Sir John R. Hicks predicted that in a globalized financial market “a national central bank will no longer be a true central bank,” but will become “single banks in a world-wide system.” Whether we like it or not, this is clearly the direction we are heading. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3