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Stephen Bell and Hui Feng, The Rise of the People's Bank of China: The Politics of Institutional Change, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 201 3, 376 pp. + viii
As one of the most powerful central banks in the world, the People's Bank of China (hereinafter PBC) has attracted more attention from the academia than what it used to be. However, the current literature shows less concerns about the historic and policy interactions between PBC and the Communist Party of China (hereinafter CPC). Stephen Bell and Hui Feng's The Rise of the People's Bank of China timely makes up for this deficiency in the literature of PBC.
Based on documentary writings and elite interviews, Stephen Bell and Hui Feng examine the dynamics of PBC, particularly its rising authority in CPC's decision-making hierarchy, and how this essential institution accumulated its authority in the monetary and financial policymaking ofChina.
This book features three thematic parts. Part 1 (chapters 1 -2) overviews the research framework and methodology. The following pages (chapter 3-7) analyse the political and institutional contexts, in which PBC's authority witnessed gradual evolution since 1 978, review how PBC's leaders utilize the resources and expertise to strengthen PBC's authority, and demonstrate that PBC's authority has become more prominent than what it used to be. The final part (chapters 8-1 2) stresses the strong points...