That freedomfrom government interference is not for its own sake but for a higher purpose of keeping prices stable, which in turn underpins economic and social stability.
Both the Bundesbank and later the ECB were founded on mandates that gave them wide powers and freedomfrom political interference in return for focusing solely on keeping inflation in check.
"Councils want to intervene more quickly, but decades of giving schools 'greater freedom' and 'protecting' them from council interference means that local authorities now have very indirect and bureaucratic ways to tackle poor performance, " he said.