Abstract
This chapter deals with central banks and the crucial questions such as whom they should belong to, how their governing bodies should be composed and, most importantly, who they receive their mandates from and with which objectives. The proposal is that central banks should be 100% public, that their governing bodies should be composed of stakeholders from all sectors of society and that their mandate should come directly from the sovereign—in analogy that parliaments are elected directly by the citizens. As for the goals, three models are discussed: the European Central Bank model (highest priority is price stability), the Federal Reserve model (price stability and full employment are targeted simultaneously) and an alternative model (price stability, full employment and limited finance of sovereign debt). Finally, the idea of a “Monetative,” the development of the central bank to a fourth independent state power is proposed—which would be mandated directly by the sovereign citizens.
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Notes
- 1.
Speech by Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank at the Global Investment Conference in London, 26 July 2012. Web: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2012/html/sp120726.en.html
- 2.
El País, 17 November 2013.
- 3.
Hamburger Abendblatt, 15 June 1961.
- 4.
11.93 percent BAWAG, 8.33 percent Trade Union Association (till 2006). 8.73 Prozent Raiffeisenzentralbank, 0.40 Prozent Raiffeisenlandesbank Wien-Niederösterreich, each 0.07 percent Raiffeisenlandesbanken Burgenland, Kärnten, Oberösterreich, Salzburg, Tirol, Vorarlberg; 0.07 percent Kathrein & Co. 8.33 Prozent Austrian Chamber of Commerce; 2.67 percent UNIQUA, 0.67 percent Grazer Wechselseitige, 0.53 percent Niederösterreich Versicherung, 0.47 percent Wiener Städtische Versicherung (Vienna Insurance Group), 0.33 percent Oberösterreichische Wechselseitige Versicherung; 4.27 percent B&C (former Bank Austria); 2 percent Industriellenvereinigung; 0.67 percent Pensionsfonds Niederösterreichische Landwirtschaftskammer; 0.13 percent Bank für Ärzte und Apotheker. Source: APA/OenB, 11 January 2010.
- 5.
- 6.
Article 125 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.
- 7.
Artikel 21 of Protocol No 4 “On the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank,” of the Treaty on European Union and of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.
- 8.
Article 2 of Minutes no. 4.
- 9.
Federal Reserve Act, Section 2A.
- 10.
- 11.
Der Spiegel, 16 June 2003.
- 12.
The former Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ursula Plassnik, in ORF-Pressestunde, 21 October 2007.
- 13.
US Treasury Department, cited in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 19 September 2013.
- 14.
Germany: ABN AMRO Bank, Banca IMI, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Banco Santander, Bankhaus Lampe, Barclays Bank, Bayerische Landesbank, BHF-Bank Aktiengesellschaft, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, COMMERZBANK Aktiengesellschaft, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited, DekaBank (Deutsche Girozentrale), Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, DZ Bank AG (Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank), Goldman Sachs International, HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG, ING Bank N.V., Jefferies International Limited, J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd., Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale, Merrill Lynch International, Mizuho International plc, Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc, Natixis, Nomura Bank (Deutschland), Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, Nordea Bank Finland, RBC Europe Limited, Scotiabank Europe, Société Générale, State Street Bank and Trust Company (London Branch), The Royal Bank of Scotland (Niederlassung Frankfurt), UBS Deutschland, UniCredit, WestLB.
Austria: Barclays Capital, BAWAG P.S.K., BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Commerzbank AG, Crédit Agricole CIB, Credit Suisse Securities (Europe), Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Erste Group Bank AG, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC France, J.P. Morgan Securities, Merrill Lynch International, Morgan Stanley & Co. International, Nomura International, Oberbank AG, Österreichische Volksbanken-Aktiengesellschaft, Raiffeisen Bank International, Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich Aktiengesellschaft, Royal Bank of Scotland, Société Générale, UBS AG.
- 15.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 2 July 2013.
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Felber, C. (2017). Democratic Central Banks. In: Money - The New Rules of the Game . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67352-3_7
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