Anniversaries are occasions for remembrance and reflections on one’s history. Many central banks take the occasion of an anniversary to publish books on their history. In this essay we discuss five recent books on the history of central banking and monetary policy. In these volumes, the Great Financial Crisis and the way which it obliged central banks to reinvent themselves occupies an important place. Although this was certainly not the first time in the history of central banking, the magnitude of the modern episode is remarkable. As comes clearly to the fore in these volumes, there is now, also in the historiography of central banking, much more attention to the (shifting) balance between price stability and financial stability. The history of central banking is more perceived as one of an institution whose predominant concern varied between “normal” times and “extraordinary” times. So, central banks will have to remain vigilant, as one should expect financial crises to return. Moreover, the new world of central banking, with a greater responsibility of central banks for financial stability, will make life more complicated for central banks. It may have also consequences for central bank independence, as the modalities of the two mandates, price and financial stability, are not the same. Another aspect which comes to the fore in these volumes is the relationship between central banking and state formation. Historically, central banks have been embedded in processes of nation-building. By extending their network of branches across the country, or by being at a center of a system of liquidity provision, ultimately tied to the national currency, they played a key role in the shaping of “national economies”.

中文翻译：

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世纪以来的中央银行

周年纪念是纪念和反思一个人历史的场合。许多中央银行利用周年纪念之际出版有关其历史的书籍。在这篇文章中，我们讨论了最近五本关于中央银行和货币政策历史的书籍。在这些书中，大金融危机及其迫使中央银行自我改造的方式占有重要地位。尽管这肯定不是中央银行历史上的第一次，但现代事件的规模是显着的。正如在这些卷中清楚地显示出来的那样，现在，在中央银行的历史编纂中，更多地关注价格稳定和金融稳定之间的（转移）平衡。中央银行的历史更多地被视为一种机构，其主要关注点在“正常”时期和“非常时期”之间变化。因此，中央银行将不得不保持警惕，因为人们应该预期金融危机会卷土重来。此外，中央银行对金融稳定负有更大责任的中央银行新世界将使中央银行的生活更加复杂。它还可能对中央银行的独立性产生影响，因为价格和金融稳定这两项任务的模式不同。这些卷中突出的另一个方面是中央银行与国家形成之间的关系。从历史上看，中央银行一直参与到国家建设的过程中。通过在全国范围内扩展他们的分支机构网络，