BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  I am an optimist, and I am convinced that our country has the right institutions to help us out of these challenging times. Over the years we have combined our efforts to make reforms, that are deep and long-lasting. Actually, our country is recognized around the world, precisely for its strong institutions. The capacity of our leaders to reach agreements is proof of such strength and, therefore, we have appreciated the agreement led by the Finance minister, Congress representatives and political leaders around the tax reform. The question we must ask ourselves, putting aside our individual positions, is how we can all move forward to create a better country. Naturally, discrepancies will arise about the reasons for the slowdown. We believe, however, that a fruitful use for our time is to think about ways to reactivate our economy and, more importantly, how to boost growth into the medium to long term. Beware also with being over-optimistic or over-pessimistic. When things go well we see no limit and indulge in the we-are-so-good fantasy. But when the table turns we become pessimistic and see no possible solution. It’s neither this nor that. The country we have built, though not perfect, is an example among emerging economies. There is a long way ahead, but let us not underestimate what we have achieved. Mistrust will not bring the solution. The only way is to work hand in hand, which is what has brought us so many good results as a society.
Page 7  The views expressed in this speech are not necessarily those of the Bank of England or the Monetary Policy Committee. I would particularly like to thank Saba Alam, Andrew Bailey, Harvey Daniell, Swati Dhingra, Jonathan Haskell, Catherine Mann and Martin Seneca for helpful comments on earlier drafts of these remarks. The responsibility for all remaining errors is my own. Endnotes 1. Friedman, M. (1961). ‘The lag in effect of monetary policy,’ Journal of Political Economy 69(5), pp. 447-466. ↑ 2. Goodfriend, M. (1998). ‘Using the term structure of interest rates for monetary policy,’ Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Economic Quarterly 84(3), pp. 13-30. ↑ 3. In commenting on Capie et al. (1993) ‘The future of central banking: The tercentenary symposium of the Bank of England,’ former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked: ‘Implicit in any monetary policy action or inaction is an expectation of how the future will unfold, that is, a forecast. There is no way to avoid making a forecast, explicitly or implicitly.’ ↑ 4. King, M. (2010). ‘Uncertainty in macroeconomic policy making – Art or science?’ Lecture at the Royal Society conference on “Handling Uncertainty in Science”, London, 22 March. ↑ 5. Evans, C., J. Fisher, F. Gourio and S. Krane (2015). ‘Risk management for monetary policy near the zero lower bound,’ Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (Spring), pp. 141-196. ↑ 6. In December, on a seasonally adjusted, 3-month average on the same 3 months a year ago basis. ↑ 7. Churchman, C. (1967). ‘Wicked problems,’ Management Science 14(4), pp.