Paul Tucker: Discussion of Lord Turner’s lecture, “Reforming finance – are we being radical enough?” Remarks by Mr Paul Tucker, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, at the Clare Distinguished Lecture in Economics, Cambridge, 18 February 2011. *  *  *  Master, it is a real pleasure to be here this evening. And it is a real pleasure to kick off the discussion of Adair’s paper. We spend a great deal of time together – constructive and productive time – at international fora, and this evening Adair has typically provided a splendidly thorough survey of responses to the financial crisis. Adair casts it as about “Radicalism”. I don’t think it’s necessary to frame the issues in that way. In his monumental survey of the long-eighteenth century revolution of ideas and practice, Radical Enlightenment,1 Jonathan Israel argues that the “true” force of the Enlightenment was the democratic urge of a loosely allied group of thinkers underemphasised by mainstream historiography. But even if he is right, the so-called “mainstream Enlightenment” still, surely, turned the world upside down. One does not need to sign up to Whig views of history to believe that, by largely separating the world of enquiry from the world of faith, it set in train profound forces. But if I do not see a need for one of the organising rhetorical constructs of Adair’s lecture, I do most certainly think that we need to deliver fundamental change in the “rules of the game” for the financial system.
However, formulating the right policy responses to monetary policy spillovers requires a better understanding of various spillover channels as well as mitigating factors that help reduce the sensitivity of EMEs to global monetary policy shocks. I would therefore like to thank you all for taking the time to join our Workshop today, which brings together seasoned researchers and policymakers dedicated to understanding these vital issues. I look forward to their insights and I hope you enjoy the Workshop. Thank you. Last revision date : 25 August 2022