There was a time in living memory when central bankers were seen and not heard. For that matter, they were hardly ever seen. In the US, long-time Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan revelled in the opacity of his public remarks. All this has changed. Policy-makers now place an emphasis on transparency and plain English. Greenspan’s successor, Ben Bernanke, instituted forward guidance to reassure markets about Fed intentions and introduced press conferences after every other monetary policy meeting. Uncoincidentally, Fed policy-makers began speaking their minds about when to raise or lower interest rates, maintain ... (full story)