Remarks on 'Making Monetary Policy by Committee'

In these remarks, Paul Tucker, Executive Director for Markets and Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member, notes that social, political and historic factors affect the choice of monetary policy decision-making structures in different countries. In the United Kingdom, the MPC sets Bank Rate on a one member, one vote basis, and so compared with other central banks, is at the 'individualistic' end of the spectrum. But there are centripetal forces at work too: MPC members are incentivised to listen to one another, learn and persuade by careful analysis; and some MPC communications, such as the quarterly Inflation Report, are based on a shared understanding of the economy. The more collective Committee statements provide a backdrop for individual members' statements, and help to reduce the risk, aired by some commentators, of 'cacophony' in communications impeding the effectiveness of policy. As for the current conjuncture, he notes that because of the financial market turmoil, the short-term risk-free rate of interest may not be a summary statistic of monetary conditions in the usual way. Consequently it is necessary to undertake a richer analysis of monetary and credit conditions