----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- Dear Ester-Mirjam, Thank you so much for your reference. Although it does not have the analogy to independent judges, it is exactly to the point of my query. As far as "men" are concerned - your comment alerted me to the fact that central banks are indeed still a male bastion. There _are_ exceptions, however: http://www.usagold.com/centralbank/current.html listed in 2000 eight female central bank governors: Datuk Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, President, National Bank of Poland Marion Williams, Governor, Central Bank of Barbados Bodil Nyboe Andersen, Chairwoman, Damarks Nationalbank Linah Mohohlo, Governor, Bank of Botswana Cheryl-Ann Lister, Chairwoman, Bermuda Monetary Authority Dolly Singh, Governor, Bank of Guyana Maria do Carmo Carvalho, Governor, Central Bank of Sao Tome e Principe Other prominent female central bankers: Cathy Mineham, President of Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Sirkka Hamalainen, Member of the Board, ECB Sheryl Kennedy, Deputy Governor, Bank of Canada Gill Marcus, Deputy Governor, South African Reserve Bank Marcia de Wachter, Deputy Governor, National Bank of Belgium Tanya Sirivedhin, Deputy Governor, Bank of Thailand Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, Vice Governor, Central Bank of Austria Wendy Craig, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Bahamas Julia Majaha-Jartby, Deputy Governor, Bank of Botswana Baroness Noakes, Chairman of Nedco, Bank of England Isabel Strauss-Kahn, Banque de France Faith Stewart, Division Chief, Bank of Jamaica Jennifer Nero, Head of Internal Audit, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Kee-Tian Teo, Head of Risk Management, Bank Negara Malaysia Yeo Lian Sim, Assistant Managing Director, Monetary Authority of Singapore Merlyn Lowther, Chief Cashier, Bank of England DeAnne Julius, MPC member, Bank of England Carmen Elena de Aleman, Vice President, Central Bank of El Salavador Miranda Goeltom, Deputy Governor, Bank Indonesia Sylvia Piterman, Director of Foreign Currency Department, Bank of Israel Veronica Bacalu, Vice Governor, National Bank of Moldova Svetlana Pinzari, Vice Governor, National Bank of Moldova S. G. Mdluli, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Swaziland Amoy Chang Fong, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago Karen Johnson, Head of International Relations, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve Best regards, Michael Ambrosi ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]