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Abstract
AA Milne's 1924 poem, Halfway Down, is a fitting description of the position central banks find themselves in today. During the past 25 years or more, central banks' mandates and instruments have moved upwards in steps. They have ascended the stairs. But where this leaves central banks today is not entirely comfortable. Halfway up the stairs is neither up nor down, neither nursery nor town. That begs a natural question about 'where next' for central banks over the next quarter-century. History will show the 20th century to have been an unprecedented boom period for central banking. But the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in the 1970s brought a further sea-change. Tight international rules gave way to national discretion. With the accompanying rise of 'monetarism', these monetary frameworks were often based around targets for the money supply.