I have always been a fan of the Olympic Games. It is the sporting event that I like the most, more than the World Cup or some "planetary" final of a sport in North America. My frustrated dream is to participate in one, but at this age with luck I could compete in skeet shooting and believe me I don't lose sleep over it (nothing personal).

Given that, I remember with particular joy the opening ceremonies, because of the enormous deployment of volunteers, the organization and because they always highlight local cultural aspects of the place where they are held. For example, at London 2012, both the opening and closing ceremonies focused on things that the UK is proud of: the Industrial Revolution, rugby and soccer, the NHS, music, James Bond and, of course, Mr. Bean.

That national pride led me to ask myself about what things should make us Chileans proud. In a survey without statistical representation, they mentioned La Teletón, resilience in the face of catastrophes, our wine and pisco, the marraqueta, national holidays, Neruda, Mistral and Huidobro, Chino Ríos, the glorious Universidad de Chile, Torres del Paine, etc. It is true that, in one way or another, all these things represent us and are part of "our DNA", but I think they unfairly leave out, perhaps, the institution that has done the most for our welfare and is constantly highlighted internationally: The Central Bank.

It is true that the Central Bank of Chile does not have the fame of Alexis Sánchez, Marcelo Salas or Bárbara Riveros, but without underestimating the effort made by our outstanding sportsmen, in the league of Central Banks, those who managed to reduce inflation and its volatility in such a short period of time can be counted on the fingers of one hand.The latter, with all the improvement in welfare that this means, especially for the poorest. This was not easy and, as I once wrote, it required both economic and political efforts, in a fractured society, coming out of a dictatorship, but which needed understandings, agreements and clear objectives. Thus, since the Central Bank achieved its autonomy, inflation went from almost 25% per year at the beginning of 1990 to a little less than 3% at the beginning of 2000. Since then, the variation of prices averages what used to be the center of the band and today is the specific objective of our inflation targeting scheme: 3%.

So much so, that in a recent seminar on Monetary Policy and Inflation, which I was lucky enough to attend (well, for Zoom), several speakers praised the conduct of monetary policy in our country. One of them, an important economist of the FED, even mentioned that the best monetary policy manual in the world was that of our Central Bank. that of our Central Bank. There are few things in which we are recognized as number one, and although it is seen as an institution far away from our daily life, this is probably the best proof that the Central Bank does its job, since inflation is not as relevant an issue as it is in other parts of the world. Therefore, when in the constitutional debate some voices mention that the autonomy of the Issuing Entity should be reviewed and objectives should be added, be careful. Let us continue perfecting what has been done so successfully so far, but let us not break one of the few things of which we can feel tremendously proud across the board.

Nathan Pincheira

Chief Economist of Fynsa