The European Central Bank

The European Central Bank starts operations on January 1st, 1999. As the independent bank which issues euro banknotes and controls European monetary policy, it is one of the key financial institutions of the world — a symbol of Europe’s ever closer financial and political union, and the seminal driving-force behind Europe’s growing world power in politics and economics.

The Bank provides a first-hand account, based on access to the key players, of the intrigues and in-fighting surrounding the creation of the Bank and the appointment of its first president, the German-backed Dutchman Wim Duisenberg. It provides a detailed analysis of the Bank’s operations and prospects, and a rigorous examination of all the related issues of European and global power — financial, economic, and political — including the impact of the bank on the City of London’s future as a world financial centre.