ABSTRACT
There have been a considerable number of theories advanced about the determinants of monetary policy, and, in particular, the determinants of Italy’s shift from a soft-currency country, with high inflation and a depreciating lira, to a member of the European Monetary Union, with the much ‘harder’ euro as its currency. Dyson and Featherstone, in their major study,1 argue that business interests and other ‘sectoral groups’ had little role in the evolution of monetary policy, because of its esoteric nature, international ramifications, and uncertain policy effects. They stress instead the action of policy entrepreneurs seeking to overcome the immobilism of domestic politics, and the political imperative for Italian leaders of remaining in the ‘first division’ of European countries. Their account still leaves open the question of why policy entrepreneurs, such as
leading civil servants, embraced a view of Italy’s economic interests that made European monetary unification a desirable goal.
