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This paper focuses on financialisation in the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) over the past three decades. The key economic features of the GCC countries relevant for financialisation are outlined. The dimensions of financialisation are drawn to allow investigation of financial developments in the GCC countries. The evolving structures of financial institutions in GCC countries are indicated and compared with their evolution in other countries. Sovereign wealth funds play an important role in the internationalisation of finance in the GCC, as does Islamic finance. Thus, the GCC countries exemplify a variegated financialisation in which both conventional and Islamic finance have expanded at the national and global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of an 'independent' central bank has dominated monetary policy debates for the past three decades. The arguments for the political independence of central banks are closely related to the adoption of 'inflation targeting'. The arguments for an independent central bank are based on the 'credibility' of the 'conservative' central bank in comparison to government decision making. The independence of a central bank has been a matter of independence from government but not independence from the grip of the 'new consensus in macroeconomics' nor from the interests of the banking and financial sector. That independence has also supported a lack of co-ordination between monetary and fiscal policies, diminishing the effectiveness of macroeconomic policies. In addition, there remain doubts about the effectiveness of 'inflation targeting' on the achievement of low inflation. The policy mandates of central banks have begun to shift towards financial stability and paying attention to issues of inequality and the climate emergency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]