I have argued today that improved monetary policy has likely made an important contribution not only to the reduced volatility of inflation (which is not particularly controversial) but to the reduced volatility of output as well.
And unlike the shocks of earlier decades, the economy has been able to withstand these disruptions with limited impact on the financial sector. The role of central banks in such a milieu is not hard to foresee. The response of the Reserve Bank in May, 2004 is a case in point.