About the conference

Date: Mon 30 November 2020 and Tues 1 December 2020

Central banks can make better decisions by using historical evidence but learning from history can be challenging. As well as collating the evidence, policymakers also need a sophisticated understanding of how to use insights from past experiences.

This conference aims to bring academics and senior policymakers together to understand better how historical analysis can help central banks make viable decisions.

Questions for discussion will include:

• How can historical inquiry improve policymaking and delivery?
• What methodologies and data are available, and what are their strengths and limitations?
• What is the evidence base for assessing the current contribution of historically informed inquiry to policymaking and execution at central banks?

This event has been organized in partnership with the Bank of England, the Qatar Centre for Global Banking and Finance at King's Business School, King's College London and the Data Analytics for Finance and Macro (DAFM) Research Centre at King's Business School, King's College London. 

Programme

Day 1 Mon 30 November 2020 (GMT):

• 13:15 - Welcome from Andy Haldane (Bank of England, Chief Economist),
  
  
• 13:30 - 'Monetary Policy Before Central Banking: Lessons from Medieval Europe' by Nathan Sussman (The Graduate Institute, Geneva (IHEID)) with Martin Weale (King's College London) as respondent,
  
  
• 14:45 - Catherine Schenk (University of Oxford) – with Natacha Postel-Vinay (London School of Economics) as respondent,
  
  
• 16:00 - Keynote address: 'Central Banks and History: The Troubled Relationship.' by Barry Eichengreen (University of California, Berkeley).

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Day 2 Tuesday 1 December 2020 (GMT):

• 14:00 - Panel discussion: How can policy-makers use history effectively? – Chaired by Claudio Borio (BIS, Head of the Monetary and Economic Department) with:
  
  • Andrew Bailey (Bank of England, Governor),
  • Vicky Saporta (Bank of England, Executive Director of Prudential Regulation),
  • Lord Macpherson (Permanent Secretary to the Treasury from 2005 to 2016),
  • Alan Taylor (University of California, Davis)
• 15:45 - ‘Theory, Empirics and History. Three Perspectives for Policy-making’ by Éric Monnet (Paris School of Economics and EHESS) with David Aikman (King's College London) as respondent,
  
  
• 16:45 - Closing remarks by Sam Woods (Bank of England, Deputy Governor)

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Organizing committee:

Peter Barrett (Bank of England), Sophie Dalzell (Bank of England), Georgina Green (Bank of England), Matt Hankin (Bank of England), George Kapetanios (King's College London), Francesca Monti (King's College London), Austen Saunders (Bank of England), Marco Schneebalg (Bank of England), Alison Schomberg (Bank of England), Polly Weaver (Bank of England), Andrew Whitworth (Bank of England).