Against the Populist Tide, Draghi Wants More Central Bank Coordination

Following the work of Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan and others, the European Central Bank president on Tuesday became the most senior global central banker so far to call for more explicit policy cooperation between jurisdictions. Draghi's aim is to mitigate the damaging cross-border side-effects brought on by the combination of monetary activism and tighter global financial links.

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"What he's getting at is simply the idea that we don't have a great understanding of all the financial linkages and capital flows," Sharif said. "That certainly does call for better understanding among central banks, not necessarily coordinated policies."

Technocrats, including those at the the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, go further, saying that new global rules are the best way to create more financial stability for all concerned.

But if central bankers seek to increase coordination, either on interest-rate policies or financial rules, the groundswell of nationalism and populism sweeping developed economies risks making their job next to impossible. While monetary policy is increasingly global, most politics remains local.