34  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  34  Chart 16: Flesch-Kincaid reading grade level of  Chart 17: Percentage of adult population for  other Central Banks  whom Elvis lyrics and 2016 communications are accessible  18  Reading grade level  FOMC minutes  16  BoC MPR  14  RBI Misc RBA MPS  12  Beige Book summary The Economist on monetary policy  RBNZ MPS Broadsheet  Mainstream press on monetary policy  The Economist  US political speeches  10  Tabloid  8  UK Political Speeches  Elvis lyrics Trump campaign speech 0%  2016  2012  2007  2002  1997  1992  1987  1982  6  20%  40%  60%  80%  Percentage of adult population  Sources: Nexis, Bank of England calculations. Source: Bank of England calculations. Notes: Newspaper and journal content matches a search for ‘monetary policy’. Chart 18: Dispersion of Flesch-Kincaid reading grade for 2016 Bank of England publications (minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile and maximum) Reading grade level 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 Knowledge Bank  Bank Underground  Speeches  Inflation Report MPC Statement MPC Minutes Working Papers  Source: Bank of England calculations. 35  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  35  Table 1: Timeline of selected communication and transparency innovations for major central banks 1993  Bank of England  1994  Inflation report launched.
Norges Bank’s district branches lost their right to set the interest rate in their own district – Norway became one interest rate kingdom. And the stock of gold would no longer set an absolute limit on the supply of banknotes. A formal obstacle to the Bank’s provision of emergency liquidity to private banks in a crisis had been removed – and, as it turned out, the need for emergency liquidity would soon arise. A more complex banking system with a growing number of links to the international financial system had set the stage for financial turbulence. Just before the turn of the century, a speculative economy had developed in Christiania. Property prices soared and newly established banks willingly provided loans – often based on short-term foreign credit. The ensuing crash was to claim many victims. One day in June 1899, a delegation from one of the banks, Discontobanken, marched into Norges Bank with some very bad news: one of the country’s largest companies could not meet its payment obligations and Discontobanken was on the verge of collapse. If the bank fell, panic could ensue, triggering a domino effect in the banking system. Norges Bank, under the leadership of Governor Bomhoff, took immediate action to provide liquidity support. Credit was injected into the economy. Norges Bank soon had to take on the additional task of resolving speculative banks while at the same time protecting healthy banks from being caught in the undertow. Norges Bank was later praised for its approach.