[Weekly wrap] Change needed

The debate over monetary policy has been going on for years, but has been given fresh impetus by the announcement Dr Bollard will not be seeking another term when his current term ends in September.

Central banks have been under greater scrutiny in recent years, with loose monetary policy, particularly by the US Federal Reserve in the early 2000s, considered by many economists to have played a significant role in the economic bubble that eventually popped in 2008, resulting in the global financial crisis.

In contrast to the US, where there has been huge anger about the Fed and its secret bailouts of banks (including calls to scrap the central bank altogether), in New Zealand there hasn't been a public outcry over the actions of our Reserve Bank.

However, there have been calls for changes to monetary policy; some want the Official Cash Rate to be decided by a committee rather than by one person, and others, including fund manager and business commentator Brian Gaynor, saying the central bank should have a wider mandate than just inflation targeting.