Indirect responsiveness and green central banking
通过访谈和一手资料，研究欧洲央行与美联储在绿色金融上的政策分歧，认为这种分歧源于央行对政治事件的间接回应，对理解央行独立性与政治关系有启发。
Since 2019, the European Central Bank has become the global frontrunner in green central banking, while the US Federal Reserve has remained a climate laggard. Based on 15 interviews and primary sources, we argue that this policy divergence demonstrates central bankers’ indirect responsiveness to political developments. We showcase how political events – the Global Financial Crisis, the Paris Climate Agreement, the EU’s Green Deal, and the Trump and Biden elections – spurred central bankers to either adopt a greener interpretation of their mandates or invoke their mandates to justify inaction. In the EU, adopting a greener stance became a component of central bankers’ strategy to build broad support. In the US, avoiding the climate issue was necessary to stay above the political fray. Overall, the European green turn challenges the conventional view of the ECB as the archetypical responsible but unresponsive institution.