In the past 30 years, a remarkable degree of consensus had been established that the primary, if not sole, responsibility of central banks was to ensure price stability. Increasingly, since the early 1990’s, it had become fashionable to define price stability more precisely through the use of inflation targets.
2008年，人们对美联储也作出了类似的评论。当时，为了支持即将崩溃的美国楼市，美联储开始大规模购买包括代理机构债务和抵押债券在内的非传统资产。比如，前美联储主席保罗•沃克尔抱怨说，美联储是在合法范围内运营。