Stanley Fischer said that advances in economics have had a huge impact on central banking...

Volcker announced his dissent from this party line. One problem was that economists changed their views so much! In 1950s, economists thought a little inflation was OK to secure full employment. Then came the Austrian School, and then came the monetarists, neo-Keynesians, etc.

 To be sure, it was important to have economists around but “you don’t have to have them on the Board”. They may be brilliant but that does not make them into good central bankers. This may be because much of what a central banker does is boring to economists – writing memos, giving speeches, talking with MPs and Congressmen. A central banker needs experience, judgment, breadth and above all guts. The central banking profession is not equivalent to or an extension of economics profession:

 “When I looked at Ben Bernanke’s CV, I was most impressed; why? Because I saw he had been head of his local school board - now that’s a really valuable qualification for a central banker. Then I read that Bernanke had said that inflation was something that central bankers had brought to the attention of economists rather than the other way round and that also impressed me!”

As reported by Central Banking Publication's "Newsmakers" coverage