Under pressure from populist politicians, central bankers face tricky trade-off

Under pressure from politicians, central bankers are fighting back.

However, their efforts are exposing a delicate trade-off: Defending independence may preserve inflation credibility, but at the cost of appearing political themselves.

Mainstream centrist politicians the world over are facing an onslaught from less conventional, often populist rivals who have their own ideas about what central banks should do, and who should run them.