The papers that comprise the different chapters of this volume were presented in the XVII Annual Conference on Central Banking that took place at the Central Bank of Chile Santiago during November 14 and 15 2011. While the global economic environment has changed considerably from the end of 2011 to the present for advanced and emerging economies alike the themes and policy issues addressed by these papers share a timeless dimension. Collectively the studies that comprise this volume deal with various aspects of the causes consequences and policy challenges associated with the repeated boom-bust cycles that have characterized market economies throughout most of their history.