(c)  A Distributed Architecture  Central banks historically have tended to be, well, centralised. But in a world where understanding of the economy is often localised and trust is built on a distributed basis, a centralised infrastructure may be far from ideal. What is needed instead is a distributed architecture for engagement. In response, central banks have over time changed their structures and further change seems likely. The Bank of England has had a network of Agents around the UK for around 90 years. Today, the Bank’s twelve regional agencies cover all corners of the UK, with an extensive network that generates around 9,000 meetings with company contacts each year. This is a valuable source of intelligence on the economy and financial system. Indeed, I would say it is increasingly valuable. It provides colour and context to accompany our data and models. It offers folk wisdom, the wisdom of the company crowd. But companies are only one crowd among many. Companies are an important lens on the economy, but far from being the only one. Reflecting that, the Bank has recently sought stronger connections with some other crowds, crowds with a different lens on the economy with which it has perhaps had less contact historically – trades unions, charities, community organisations and the like. For more than a year, I have augmented those Agents’ efforts with my own “Townhall” meetings across the UK.
53  By design, these seek out the views of a wider range of citizens, in a wider range of locations on a  wider range of issues around the economy and financial system than has been the case in the past. These events have established for me that there is wisdom in these crowds when gauging some of the key issues shaping the economy and financial system. The lived experience of everyday people making everyday decisions is what makes the economy tick (and sometimes tock). Tapping that lived experience can add to the Bank’s understanding of the economy and help it when setting policy to keep the economy stable. There is wisdom in crowds of citizens, as there is in crowds of companies. 54  The Bank is now taking a further step towards putting in place an infrastructure to formalise its engagement with citizens. Earlier this year, in response to a recommendation from the RSA, we announced that the Bank would be setting-up a set of Citizens’ Panels across the UK. 55  In the remainder of this year, we will be  running trials of these citizen panels to help us decide how best to organise them, before rolling them out systematically, UK-wide, next year. 53 54 55  See https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/outreach Taylor (2018) also discusses the benefits of deliberative democracy in the RSA’s 2018 Annual Lecture. Haldane (2018b). 23  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  23  There are a number of key design questions that need to be answered.