ContentsForeword xKenneth RogoffReflections on 40 years of conservativeness: an introduction to the book 1Etienne Farvaque and Piotr StanekPART I GUARDIANS OF MONETARY STABILITY: CENTRAL BANK CONSERVATISM, POLITICAL CYCLES, AND INSTITUTIONAL INDEPENDENCE1 Central banks and political cycles 11Hugo Oriola2 The quantity theory of money in central banking, 1870-2020 37Alexander Jung3 Trends in central bank independence: a de jure perspective 59Davide RomelliPART II TRUST BUILDERS: CENTRAL BANK CREDIBILITY, COMMUNICATION, AND STRATEGIC RESERVES4 Can the conservative central banker be a woman? 96Cristina Bodea and Andrew Kerner5 Do Europeans like their central bank conservative? Evidence from the communication about the 2022 hikes 115Maqsood Aslam, Etienne Farvaque, Kokouvi Kada-Sedode and Piotr Stanek6 Gold renaissance among central banks: can gold reserves reduce sovereign credit risk? 131 Joanna Bogolebska, Ewa Feder-Sempach, Ewa Stawasz- Grabowska and Bojan Pejovic PART III NAVIGATORS OF CHANGE: MANEUVERING BETWEEN POLITICAL INFLUENCE AND FISCAL DOMINANCE IN TRANSITION AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 7 Central bank independence, inflation, and growth in Africa 157 Christine O. Strong 8 Does central bank independence protect against fiscal dominance? 185 Marek A. Dabrowski 9 How to save central banks' independence from the unconservative governor: the alarming case of the National Bank of Poland 208 Andrzej Wojtyna PART IV INNOVATIVE REFORMERS: REDEFINING MONETARY POLICY AND CHALLENGING CONVENTIONAL PARADIGMS 10 Unconventional monetary policies and the conservative central banker principle: two interpretations 231 Jakub Janus and Krystian Mucha 11 Paradigm shift after the inflation shock? 250 Jérôme Creel, François Geerolf, Sandrine Levasseur, Xavier Ragot and Francesco Saraceno 12 Toward a progressive central banker 268 Louis-Philippe Rochon and Guillaume Vallet Index 288.