Since then, central banks have been gradually opening up: for instance, in the mid-90s – I would like to emphasize – only since the mid-90s – the US Federal Reserve started to publicly announce its interest rate decisions in real time – something that policymakers had previously deemed unnecessary.
The ECB, for its part, has not always been as transparent about monetary policy as it is now. For instance, the accounts of monetary policy meetings of the Governing Council began to be published publicly just a few years ago. So, what has changed? I suppose that there are two main factors to consider.