J. S. FLEMMING The Bank of England's role as a leading central bank
involves both formal and informal aspects. At a formal level it is an
adviser to HM Government, whilst at an informal level it is consulted by
domestic and overseas institutions for advice on many areas of economic
interest. Such advice must be grounded in an understanding of the
workings of the domestic and international economy-a task which becomes
ever more difficult with the pace of change both in the economy and in
the techniques which are used by professional economists to analyse such
changes. The Bank's economists are encouraged to publish their research
whenever circumstances permit, whether in refereed journals or in other
ways. In particular, we make it a rule that the research underlying the
Bank's macroeconometric model, to which outside researchers have access
through the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) macromodelling
bureau, should be adequately explained and documented in published form.
This volume expands the commitment to make research which is undertaken
within the Economics Division of the Bank of England widely available.
Included here are chapters which illustrate the breadth of interests
which the Bank seeks to cover. Some of the research is, as would be
expected, directly related to the specification of the Bank's model, but
other aspects are also well represented.