... autonomy and making responsible choices. For society, and arguably for the young persons themselves, what matters is not a young person’s ‘virtue,’ let alone any reputation for such. What matters for ... 6Insuchcycles,monetaryorfiscalpolicywouldbeloosenedintimetoenhancethechancesofagivenofficial’selection,orcyclicalpolicywouldotherwisebemanipulatedtosuittheperceivedelectoralneedsofincumbents.7SeeBerger,DeHaan, and EIjffinger(2001),Faust and Irons(1999), and Posen(1995).8AsIfirstarguedinPosen(1993,1995) and hasbeensubsequentlyborneoutinotherempiricalstudies(thoughnotnecessarilywiththespecificsourcesofsupportIinitiallyhypothesized).SeeBerger,Eijffinger and DeHaan(2001),Hayo(1998),Kuttner and Posen(2009), and Miller(1998), and thereferencestherein.9Drazen and Masson(1994)giveaparticularlyinsightfulformalmodelofthisphenomenon.6of ... 2SeeEijffinger and DeHaan(1996),Posen(1998),Posen(1999), and Kuttner and Posen(2009) for evidenceaboutwhichaspectsoflegalcentralbankindependencehavepredictivepower for inflationinsupportofthisview.3ThediscussionsinBlinder(1998) and McCallum(1995)areenlighteningonthispoint (and severalothers).4Posen(1993) and Kuttner and Posen(2001)discussthistrend,madestrongerbythestricturesofEMU.5Seethepapers and referencesinEijffinger(1997).4governor...