4 Put differently, there are around the same number of FTE volunteers in the UK as there are paid employees in the manufacturing, construction and real estate sectors combined. Indeed, the only industrial sectors with a larger UK workforce are wholesale and retail services, education, health and social work. And it does not end there. It is estimated that another 170 million hours a year are volunteered by people less than once a month. 5 And to this estimate of formal volunteering should be added measures of informal volunteering. According to calculations recently released by the ONS, informal volunteers provide anywhere between 1.7 and 2.1 billion hours of extra help each year. 6 So, all in, volunteering in the UK might amount to as much as 4.4 billion hours per year. That is 1.7 hours per week for every UK adult aged over 16. It is not far off 10% of the total hours worked by all UK paid employees. That is quite an army. 4  Bank and Pro Bono Economics calculations using ONS Household Satellite Account hours. 5  Bank and Pro Bono Economics calculations using ONS Household Satellite Account hours. 6  See http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/about-ons/business-transparency/freedom-of-information/what-can-irequest/published-ad-hoc-data/econ/august-2014/hhsa-consistent-estimates-of-the-value-of-informalvoluntary-activity-in-2012-13.xls for further details. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  Second, volunteering also appears to be big internationally. A group of academics at John Hopkins University have been pioneers in this field and have published cross-country comparisons. 7 They calculated that, in 2005, around 970m people in the world were engaged in voluntary activity.
In any event it will be fascinating to see what other contracts emerge over the coming months. Of course, not all contracts that are launched will be successful, and it’s interesting to reflect on what makes a successful derivative contract. Lessons can often be learned from looking back to the past. Not far from this location is the home of the London Metal Exchange. Its origins can be traced back to 1571, when traders in metal and a range of other commodities began meeting at the Royal Exchange. What was originally a domestic market in physical metal became a major global market, and by the early 19th century traders had been forced to use nearby coffee shops. As the UK started importing large quantities of metal from abroad during the Industrial Revolution, the need emerged for importers to protect themselves against price movements during the long voyage from places like Chile and Malaysia. The “futures” market which developed from those humble beginnings continued to grow and, in 1877, the London Metal Exchange Company was formed. That market was successful for a number of reasons. Volatility in the price of the underlying product made the contract attractive to hedgers and speculators alike. Technology - the telegraph would you believe! - encouraged the market’s growth by making shipment arrival dates more predictable. The LME had a first mover advantage that still stands. Liquidity flourished as traders followed one another in using the new market.