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Beyond the Fed, which other large central banks are privately owned? The Bank of England has only been independent for a pretty short time, for example, so cen

Beyond the Fed, which other large central banks are privately owned? The Bank of England has only been independent for a pretty short time, for example, so central bank independence is a fairly new concept that could change again - because it is a political decision, not a law of nature.

jcbrand 4y ago
US, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Greece, Turkey and South Africa. The Danish one is "self-owned" whatever that means. The US fed is by far the most important Central Bank due to dollar being the global reserve currency. Source: https://www.quora.com/Is-the-European-Central-Bank-privately-owned-If-so-who-owns-the-bank-and-how-does-its-private-ownership-affect-its-customers https://www.quora.com/Is-the-European-Central-Bank-privately... EDIT: The ECB is owned by member-states's banks, some of which are privately owned. In any case, private ownership is only one issue, the other is that central banks are designed to have very little oversight. Saying that "we can change the laws" doesn't change that. It's not always easy or possible to change laws. When is the USA going to repeal the 2nd amendment?
- RandomLensman 4y ago
  So, outside of the Fed, there are maybe two more that have some relevance that are privately owned (Japan, Switzerland). The second most important one (ECB) is not. And, of course, the ownership of the Fed (or the ECB) could be changed by changing laws (the Bank of England is an example here of how central banks might enjoy changing degrees of freedom). Addendum: to say that it is not easy to change the law is ok, maybe it should not be. But to use some technology to get around laws where there is not enough social capital for change is a very tricky position. If that holds for law X, why not law Y? What if there is never enough social capital for change? Would it then imply a break-up of that society into multiple ones?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

jcbrand 4y ago

US, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Greece, Turkey and South Africa. The Danish one is "self-owned" whatever that means. The US fed is by far the most important Central Bank due to dollar being the global reserve currency. Source: https://www.quora.com/Is-the-European-Central-Bank-privately-owned-If-so-who-owns-the-bank-and-how-does-its-private-ownership-affect-its-customers https://www.quora.com/Is-the-European-Central-Bank-privately... EDIT: The ECB is owned by member-states's banks, some of which are privately owned. In any case, private ownership is only one issue, the other is that central banks are designed to have very little oversight. Saying that "we can change the laws" doesn't change that. It's not always easy or possible to change laws. When is the USA going to repeal the 2nd amendment?

RandomLensman 4y ago
So, outside of the Fed, there are maybe two more that have some relevance that are privately owned (Japan, Switzerland). The second most important one (ECB) is not. And, of course, the ownership of the Fed (or the ECB) could be changed by changing laws (the Bank of England is an example here of how central banks might enjoy changing degrees of freedom). Addendum: to say that it is not easy to change the law is ok, maybe it should not be. But to use some technology to get around laws where there is not enough social capital for change is a very tricky position. If that holds for law X, why not law Y? What if there is never enough social capital for change? Would it then imply a break-up of that society into multiple ones?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]