Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee Member delivers a guest lecture

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Dr Martin Weale CBE, Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Member for the Bank of England, delivered a talk to Management School undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff just a day after “Super Thursday” when the quarterly Inflation Report was released.

His talk focused on the uncertain nature of early data estimates and the challenge that poses to the MPC in making policy judgements and explained the risks around its forecasts. This was a unique opportunity for our staff and students to hear from someone directly involved in the decision making process.

Dr Martin Weale joined the Monetary Policy Committee in 2010 following a term of fifteen years as Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and roles at University of Cambridge, Clare College and the National Statistics Office in Malawi. He was reappointed to the Monetary Policy Committee in 2013 for a second three-year term.

Following the talk students were given the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session. 

Prof Gary Cook, Head of Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting, said:"It was a pleasure to here from Martin Weale about the difficulty of establishing the current state of health of the UK economy. Martin spoke with authority, having been Director if the National Institute for Economic and Social Research for 15 years and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee. His insights into the problems of macroeconomic policy making were insightful and important for the students to hear."

Oliver Websdell, final year Economics with a Year in Industry student, said: "Martin Weale's talk gave a really relevant and interesting insight into the central bank and the kind of problems that they face in measuring the economy and making informed decisions. It was good to get to listen to someone who has a real working knowledge of macroeconomics in practice and is also at the forefront of the field in an academic sense."

For a full transcript of the talk please visit:

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/speeches/2016/907.aspx