Norges Bank

Bicentenary project, Working Paper

Independence within Government. A comparative perspective on central banking in Norway 1945-1970

Author:
Christian Venneslan, Ragnar Trøite, Christoffer Kleivset, Bastian Klunde
Series:
Working Paper
Number:
20/2011

This article surveys the degree of central bank independence in Norway between 1945 and 1970. By comparing the developments in Norway with those of Sweden and the United Kingdom, it is shown that the Norwegian central bank had less room for maneuver than in the other countries. In spite of a high legal independence, the actual performance of central bank operations was almost completely subordinated the instructions given by the Ministry of Finance. A particular vivid, dirigiste environment followed the experiences of the 1930s and the war in Norway, curtailing any effort to make the central bank an independent institution in the machinery of state economic management that followed the return to peace.

 

Norges Bank’s Working Papers present research projects and reports that are generally not in their final form. Other analyses by Norges Bank’s economists are also included in the series. The views and conclusions in these documents are those of the authors.

Norges Bank’s Working Papers can also be found in Norges Bank's publication archive, RepEc and BIS Central Bank Research Hub

ISSN 1502-8143 (online)

Published 28 December 2011 15:50
Published 28 December 2011 15:50