1The re-appointment of Andy Haldane
Background on Andy Haldane
3.Andy Haldane joined the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (“MPC”) on 1 June 2014. He was reappointed for a further three year term on 12 June 2017.
4.Andy Haldane joined the Bank of England on leaving university as an economist in 1989 and since then has worked in number of Bank of England roles, rising to become Executive Director Financial stability in 2009 and Chief Economist in 2014.
5.Apart from work at the Bank he has other professional roles as an economist. Andy Haldane is a Professor of Economics at Nottingham University, Governor of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and Fellow of Nuffield College Oxford.
6.Andy Haldane is also chair of the Chair of the Government’s Industrial Strategy Council
7.Andy has published over 200 academic articles, speeches and books on a wide range of topics in the field of economics.
Our evidence
8.In oral evidence, we questioned Andy Haldane about the outlook for the economy, and the operation of financial policy in the UK. Topics covered during the session included:
- what he would have done differently over the 6 years he has been on the MPC;
- the pace of rebound of the economy from the Coronavirus crisis and lockdown;
- which of the OBR scenarios for the economy is most likely;
- why pay growth has been sluggish in recent years despite strong employment growth;
- the impact of the Government’s economic policy response to the Coronavirus crisis;
- how structural unemployment might be prevented from emerging from the crisis;
- impacts of the crisis on youth unemployment;
- the level of the National Debt and whether it will have an impact on growth;
- the impacts of high levels of corporate debt;
- Bank rate policy;
- the potential impact of negative interest rates;
- the lack of women on the MPC and the extent to which its independence is challenged by lack of diversity;
- cultural issues that make the MPC less attractive to female applicants;
- what outreach the Bank is doing to demystify its monetary policy
- the impact of the Women in Finance Charter at the Bank of England;
- what can be done to improve BAME numbers at the Bank and on its policy committees;
- comparisons with and differences between the Coronavirus crisis and the 2008–9 financial crisis;
- the size of the shock to the banking system arising from the crisis;
- whether Banks can and should do more to help households in difficulty;
- the impacts of low interest rates on boom and bust cycles; and
- potential alternatives to the MPC’s inflation target, including nominal GDP targeting.
Conclusion
9.The Committee is content that Andy Haldane has the professional competence and personal independence to remain a member of the Financial Policy Committee. We wish him every success in his continuing role as a member of the committee.
Published: 22 July 2020