Fielding predictable questions over whether he was a monetary policy "hawk" or "dove", Masaaki Shirakawa, the new governor of the Bank of Japan, told the audience at his inaugural press conference: "I do not like to be called a hawk or a dove. I feel sorry for the birds, as I am a bird watcher". Shirakawa's mildly irritated reply to this simplistic categorisation is understandable. But, given that his name only emerged towards the end of a bruising and drawn-out political battle over the