Balance of Power

"""An unflinching, revelatory book. Monnet reopens the public debate on central banks for this century. A must-read."" -- Thomas Piketty, author of 'Capital in the Twenty-First Century' “Balance of Power explores the key challenge facing modern central banks: being democratic while remaining independent. Monnet captures everything that makes these institutions so interesting—and so essential to contemporary societies.” -- Jean-Pierre Landau, former deputy governor, Banque de France “A forceful argument that central banks’ policies and money creation should be subject to democratic control. Populist? Maybe. But also bold and commonsensical? Absolutely.” -- Hélène Landemore, author of 'Open Democracy' “Monnet shows that the political natures of central banks must be acknowledged—and then legitimated—if we are to retain their critical role for the public welfare. An essential work from one of the most important economic historians of our time.” -- Jonathan Levy, author of 'Ages of American Capitalism' “Balance of Power shows that the biggest challenges of our time—climate change, rising inequality, geopolitical fragmentation—become more solvable when we reconnect central banks to the people they are meant to serve. This is a book whose time is now.” -- Saule T. Omarova, Cornell University “A lucid, compelling case for connecting central bank policies to other imperatives of public policy, from the environment to wages and beyond. A must-read for anyone interested in how democratic institutions will adapt in the twenty-first century.” -- Katharina Pistor, author of 'The Code of Capital'"