The textbook argument in favour of central bank independence is that it prevents political manipulation of the economy.

ECONOMIST: Interest rates

President Nursultan Nazarbayev, a former Soviet official, has ruled with a tempered-steel grip since independence in 1991 by focusing on the economy--Kazakhstan's GDP last year jumped 8.7%--and opening doors to outside investors.

FORBES: Power Putsch

The country's white population, once the economy's motor, has shrunk from around 200, 000 at independence in 1980 to fewer than 50, 000 today.

ECONOMIST: Zimbabwe's election

Labour has not messed up the strong economy it inherited from the Tories, and by giving independence to the Bank of England in 1997 did make it likelier that inflation would be kept under control.

ECONOMIST: Confidence or cynicism?